


Normal

by magic_marvel



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, High School
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-04-27 17:43:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14430822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magic_marvel/pseuds/magic_marvel
Summary: A night out leads to an encounter with our favorite masked hero.





	1. Chapter 1

You liked to keep your head down. Never looking for attention and always keeping to yourself. You never minded, it kept you out of trouble.

So when Liz Allen asked you to come to her party, you were surprised. Sure, she’s a nice girl. She always kept up her work in chem where you two were partners. But you never thought she considered you a _friend_ , let alone party material.

There was some time where you considered not going, you thought Liz wouldn’t even really notice if you went or not. But after briefly mentioning the invite to your mom, she lit up at the thought.

Although you didn’t mind being in your own little world, she thought it was no way for a teenager to experience high school. She was the popular one during her years, so of course her opinion didn’t surprise you.

But you agreed to go, a party wouldn’t kill you.

 

So here you are, in front of a wide open door to a grand home. Music blasting through the entrance, seemingly blowing you back. Other party-goers littered the front lawn, laughing and drinking. Some you recognized from your school, but for the most part many of the people were strangers to you.

You stepped aside for a moment as a couple stumbled out of the doorway in front of you, clinging onto each other for dear life while slurring affections to each other.

“I told you don’t bring alcohol inside!” A voice brought your attention back to the door, Liz stood with furrowed brows at the couple she seemingly just kicked out. “Oh! You’re here!”

She gave you a sincere smile, waving you inside.

“Yeah, thank you for inviting me.” You gave her a polite smile, stepping over a red solo cup before entering the home.

The music consumed you the moment you stepped inside, the bass pumping in your chest and made a tingle run up your arms, goosebumps popped up as you got chills. You looked around at the people, many of them dancing to the sound and singing along with the lyrics. A few stood by tables, eating pizza or drinking punch. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves as well, happily watching their friends dance as they indulged in the free food. They seem more like your kind of crowd.

Liz turned to you, mouthing words that went unheard in the music.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” You asked, shouting over the music.

Liz leaned in by your ear, “Feel free to grab any of the snacks, and don’t forget to enjoy yourself!” She gave you a wink and nodded her head towards the middle of the room where most of the dancing bodies seemed to concentrate. You were about to ask if you could stay with her, but she rushed off to greet more guests. leaving you to stand by yourself.

 

You took a moment to look around once more, eyeing the table with snacks again. You weaved past a few people, making your stop in front of a stack of pizza boxes. There were a few punch bowls, but you stuck to the more safer option of a can of soda. Cracking open the top box of pizza showed you a disaster of pepperoni and cheese, the pizza seemingly tossed and destroyed from all the other guests before you. You decided against a slice.

You opened the cold can with a pop, letting the hiss of gas spill out before taking a sip. You turned back towards the party, leaning back into the table. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, giving you a little more hope that maybe you could have some fun too. But for the moment, you decided to stay by the table.

You began to nod your head to the beat, barely mouthing the words to the familiar song. You found yourself wanting to sway more as the song picked up. You fiddled with the hem of your shirt, itching to dance along to the music. More people were shoved into the house as time went on, adding more to the already concentrated body of people pooled in the middle. It gave you more anonymity, you realized. So with a deep breath, you straightened your posture and set your half empty can back down, mentally noting to find a trash can later.

Taking a daring step forward, you realized no one was looking at you, nor did they really pay attention to anything around them as they danced to the beat. So you took another, then one more, and you kept going until you reached the edge of the mass of people swaying and enjoying themselves. During the adventurous trek to the crowd, you had already begun swaying your own hips to the music, a smile forming on your lips.

Maybe your mom was right after all.

So you kept going, dancing to the familiar song and mouthing the words with confidence. Your arms raised in the air to match the crowds. Your smile grew, and your eyes caught a girl in the crowd. A classmate.

A warm smile grew on her face, she squeezed her way over to you before placing a friendly hand on your arm as she called out your name over the music.

“Hey! I didn’t know you liked parties?!” She yelled over the music, her own hips swaying in sync with yours.

“I didn’t either!” You laughed with your answer, as did she.

“Come, my friends are over there!” You followed as she held tightly onto your hand.

It was odd, you thought. You knew this girl, Beverly, but she didn’t seem like the type to hang out with you. She would give you polite smiles in the halls and always greeted you as she walked by your desk, but that was as far as your relationship with her went. Perhaps it was the vibe, your own enjoyment giving her an incentive to approach you.

“Guys! Meet my friend!” She shouted over the music to a group of girls all dancing with each other. She introduced you to each, they all returning a polite smile. You had a warm feeling, it was nice for her to think of you as a friend.

Just as she finished introductions, she turned close to your ear, “I know this isn’t really your scene so I decided to kidnap you from your solitude” She gave you a wide smile, her eyes wrinkling slightly as she giggled.

“Thank you.” You replied genuinely.

Your little group continued to dance, certain songs earning shouts from the girls as they came on. It would only add to the excitement, causing you to scream along with them.

 

You had no idea how much time has passed, a light layer of sweat had formed, making your face a little shiny. Your clothes stuck to your skin and your breathing was getting heavier as you tried to keep up. You needed a break, so you told Beverly you were going to grab a drink.

As you squeezed and pushed your way through the crowd and back to the table, you noticed the snacks were thrown around and in disarray. There were no longer sodas stacked on the table, but you caught a glimpse of a case of water under the table.

You reached down, ripping open the plastic before wrestling with the bottle to get it out.

“Now that’s what I call a view.”

A voice spoke behind you, loud enough to be heard over the music. You stood back up without grabbing a water, turning to find an older guy staring you up and down.

Your skin crawled.

“Excuse me?” You had heard him perfectly the first time, but you wanted to give him a chance to rephrase.

“Why don’t you grab that water, sweetheart. I liked the way you looked bent over like that.” He spoke, not breaking eye contact. He seemed like an upperclassman, a stranger to you.

You didn’t even reply, you simply began to walk back into the crowd to look for Beverly. But before you could get in two steps, his hand wrapped around your bicep.

“I wasn’t done talking to you, baby” He tried pulling you close, but you managed to hold yourself at arms length.

“Let me go,” You started, but your voice was already wavering, “I don’t want any trouble.”

“Then don’t be rude, I was tryna talk to you.” He answered, a hint of anger in his voice.

Your eyes were watering, his grip on your hand tightened. Your mouth was left agape, trying to find the courage to say something back.

“Hey asshole! Get off of her!”

A familiar voice brought both of your attention to the girl in front of you, Beverly seemed to be seething.

“Mind your own business!” The guy shouted back. A juvenile answer, you thought.

With all of her might, Beverly pried herself between you and the stranger, pushing him back into the table.

Heads turned, the commotion gaining the attention of those nearby. Your eyes were still watering, your hand gently smoothing over your arm where he grabbed you.

“Get out.” A new voice appeared. Liz stood to the side, staring down at the guy before quickly shifting her eyes back onto you.

Without another word, the stranger stood straight and huffed. He walked out without turning back, too slow for you.

“Are you okay?” Beverly asked, wrapping an arm around you as Liz approached. She took a place on the other side of you.

“I’m so sorry, I don’t know who invited him. He didn’t hurt you, did he?” Liz questioned.

“I’m fine.” You weren’t.

The party around you picked back up, less enthusiastically than before but you figured it would be as if nothing happened in no time.

 

You quickly told both girls that you would be going home. They both offered to give you a ride home but you declined. You just wanted to be back on your own again. Luckily, neither pushed you on the subject.

You were walking down the sidewalk, your arms wrapped around you as the cold bit at your skin. Turning a corner, the house no longer in sight, you began to cry. It was silent, tears fell as you sniffled lightly. You knew these things happened at parties, but you didn’t think it would happen to you. You supposed that everyone thought that as well.

It was around 11, you didn’t even get to stay till midnight. It upset you, the thought that one incident ruined the rest of your night. Tears still streaming down as you walked through the suburbs. You lived in the apartment complex by the deli, but Liz’s place was in the suburbs. It was going to be a long walk.

You thought about calling you mom, you knew she would pick you up with no question. But you also wanted time to compose yourself before coming home. You wanted to avoid the questions as to why you are crying.

However, you didn’t get very far when screeching could be heard. Your eyes finally looked up from your feet, and you stood in shock as a van came barreling down the street. The back doors would swing into view as it swiveled along the road, it was dragging the other door, objects flying out as it sped down the road.

You were frozen, unaware of the van speeding directly at you.

As it approached, the van’s headlights began to blind you. You began squinting as a result, tears blurring your vision even further.

It wasn’t until your eyes completely shut did you feel something tackling into you.

The air was knocked from you, your feet inching down trying to touch back on the floor. You felt yourself go further and further away from the ground, and all you could do in the moment was cling tightly to whatever rammed into you.

Just as quickly, your feet slammed onto a slanted surface. You weren’t ready for the sudden impact, so you tumbled trying to regain your balance. Arms wrapped around you for a moment to steady you, before a frantic voice questioned you.

“Are you alright?! Miss?!” Your eyes finally opened, meeting with two wide panels. Eyes? They twitched, seemingly in and out of focus as they kept staring at you.

You tried taking a step back, but your foot slipped against the material. The arms kept holding onto you, helping your balance.

“Spider-man?” You asked, not exactly believing the sight in front of you. You looked back down at your feet, broken tiles were crumbled under both of you.

“Are you hurt? I-I was just trying to get you out of the way.” He tried explaining, but you were just trying to piece together the situation you were in as you both stood on top of the roof of a random house.

“You saved me.” You concluded, more to yourself than anything.

“Well, you probably wouldn’t have been in that situation if it weren’t for me.” He pulled one arm away from you, scratching at the back of his neck. “Oh shoot! The van!”

His eyes widened and he began to rush towards towards the top of the roof, but you slipping once he released caused him to fling right back to you.

“Sorry! I’m sorry!” Before you could get a word in, he squeezed around your waist before jumping off the roof. You clung to him once more as he plopped down on the front lawn, he safely put you back down on steady ground.

“I think I lost ‘em,” He began, looking down the street where the van disappeared to before turning back to you. “Hey, did I hurt you? I’m so sorry!”

His hand reached down to your bicep, fingers barely hovering over the forming hand mark.

“N-No, that wasn’t from you.” Your voice was wavering again, the tears returning.

You both stood there for a moment before he spoke up.

“Are you alright?” He asked with sincerity, the question causing you to shake your head.

“I’ll be fine, thank you for saving me.” You weren’t exactly sure what to say, but you tried giving him a warm smile through the tears. He didn’t push on the subject further, and you were grateful.

He stood silent for a moment, his eyes whizzed as they widened. It was for only a moment, but he quickly shook himself back to reality.

“Uh, do you live by here? I can walk you home. It’s pretty late.” He seemingly stated rather than questioned. Taking a step towards the sidewalk.

“No I’m a few blocks away. I know you have better things to do so I’ll be alright on my own.” You joined him on the sidewalk, ready to say goodbye.

“That’s no problem. It’s my job to keep people safe!” He stated proudly, you let out a little snort at his declaration.

“Thank you, really, for saving me. But I don’t think I need to burden you more, Spider-man.” You gave him a smile, already beginning to turn away from him.

“What?! You’re no burden.” He began walking along side of you. “And I think I’m done for the night anyways.”

You both walked together until you got to your apartment building. He noticed you were on the more quieter side, so he spent most of the time telling you his Spider-man stories. You didn’t mind at all, they were actually pretty interesting and even caused you to let out a few chuckles.

 

The time had flown by, your mind never wandering back to what had happened at the party. You were thankful for that, even if you weren’t aware of it. You even kept going back to the moment he saved you, a little starstruck as he spoke to you. But you held your own, keeping your cool as he spoke of his adventures.

There were a few times where he would stare at you for a moment too long, causing you to be slightly self-conscious. Was your makeup runny? Did you say something dumb? But he never brought anything up, just snap himself back to reality and continued talking to you.

“Well, this is me.” You stood in front of the steps to your apartment building, You looked back at Spider-man, unsure of what happens next.

He stared up at the building, eyeing the windows that lined the apartments.

“Uh, you okay?” You asked a little concerned.

“What? Yeah! Yeah, I just… umm I know somebody who lives here.” He replied.

“Really? What’s their name maybe I know them.” You asked, a little curious. Maybe you can narrow down who Spider-man really is.

“Uhh, P-Paul. Yeah, Paul’s the name.” He replied, mentally reprimanding himself for being so awkward.

“Paul? I don’t know a Paul who lives here.” You answered, looking back up at the rows of windows. Sadly, you won’t be figuring out his identity this time.

You turned back to him, “Thanks for walking me, I really appreciate it.” You smiled.

“Yeah, no problem. Friendly neighborhood Spider-man is at your service.” He replied, earning a laugh from you.

“Okay, well goodnight Spider-man. Stay safe.” You told him sincerely. He nodded in response and returned the “goodnight.”

You walked up the steps of your apartment building, taking a turn back through the window and finding Spider-man already gone. Your heart finally stopped pounding in your chest for what seems like the first time tonight.

You unlocked your door and squeezed in before closing it shut behind you. You breathed out a sigh, making your way to your room.

“Hun, is that you?” Your mom shouted from her own room.

“No, I’m a robber!” You shouted back jokingly.

“Well good luck finding something worth stealing. I’d start with my daughter’s room though you might find something in there.” She replied.

You said a quick goodnight to her before shuffling into your own room. You closed the door and flopped onto your bed, not even bothering changing for the moment.

 

Yeah, maybe you should retire early from the party life.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter walked into the cafeteria holding back a smile and confidence in his steps. He spoke to you last night. Well, Spider-man did. But that’s close enough for him.

He got to hold you, save you last night. He wasn’t sure if he should feel guilty or not, he didn’t really want you to be in a situation like that, but it did allow him to finally talk to you. He got to hold you tight, even for a moment. He walked you home and spoke with no restraints, he even found out you lived in the same building as him. How did he not know, he wondered.

Peter slid into the seat next to his friend, Ned, and tossed his backpack on the table in front of him.

“So you gonna explain what happened last night?” Ned asked, glaring into the side of Peter’s head. He was supposed to make an appearance as a certain masked hero.

Peter kept his eyes forward, watching as you and another girl walked together to a table. He hardly ever saw you in here, since there weren’t anyone you sat with during lunch.

“Peter.” Ned scooted closer, trying to gain his friend’s attention.

Peter let out a sigh, turning his attention away from you and the girl. Beverly, he recognized.

“I didn’t catch them…” He began to zip open his bag, “…But they did leave this.”

A purple glow radiated from his backpack, a violet hue radiating onto each of their faces.

Peter quickly shut the bag, causing his friend to snap out of a mesmerized gaze.

“Awesome…” Ned barely spoke over a whisper.

“Aweso- Ned! They tried to kill me with that thing!” Peter whisper-yelled, unsure if he spoke too loudly. “We gotta figure out what it does.”

“Figure out? Peter, what are we going to do with that thing? What if it explodes!” Ned began to raise his voice, earning a frantic hand over his mouth. Peter kept shushing as he held his palm on Ned’s face.

“It won’t explode! At least… I don’t think so.” Peter squinted in thought, a little more worried of his backpack. “But we have to! Mr. Stark’s busy with other stuff so I gotta find out what this does and hopefully catch the dudes using it in their weapons.”

They continued talking about a game plan, figuring out what exactly they were going to do with the mystery object when the bell rung. Lunch was over, they both rose from their seats to exit the cafeteria.

The pair had different classes this period, Ned was off to Statistics while Peter head towards his Chemistry class. This was his favorite class of the day, and especially after last night he seemingly was a little too eager to go to class.

 

You were in your assigned seat towards the back. You were lost in your notebook trying to cram before the quiz when Liz took her seat next to you.

“Hey there!” She greeted.

“Hey Liz, you ready for the quiz?” You asked, before she could bring up anything of the night before.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She answered with a sigh, letting her bag down next to her chair. You can tell that she wasn’t too excited about the quiz, but then again who would be. You were confident she would do just fine however, she always did.

Moments before the bell rang, Peter rushed into the room. He set his things on his desk before taking a seat. You kept your eyes on him for a moment, watching as he turned his gaze over his shoulder. You quickly turned your eyes back down on your notebook, you didn’t want to get caught looking at him. But then again, with Liz sitting next to you, it didn’t seem like he would ever notice you. He always looked this direction, and you were sure he was just catching a quick peek at your chem partner.

“Alright everyone clear your desks except for a pen or pencil. Let’s get the quiz out of the way so we can get to the fun stuff, yeah?” Your teacher spoke to the room, everyone shuffling to move their things off their desks.

 

The rest of your classes flew by, the final bell signaling you to go home. You ended up staying a little later than usual, cleaning up after your desk and asking the teacher a few questions about the homework. So by the time you were in the halls, they were relatively empty. A student would walk past you here and now, but only enough to count on your hand.

So to find Peter and Ned staring down a hall hiding around a corner was very much out of place. You weren’t sure what they were looking at, but you didn’t have the courage to ask what they were doing. Stopping in front of your locker, you entered the combination to open it, your glance going from the numbers to the boys. Peter skid across the hall, Ned staying behind for a moment. You turned back to your locker, deciding it wasn’t any of your business.

You piled your books into your locker before realizing you were short one. You let out a frustrated sigh before heading back to your chemistry class, you hoped your teacher hadn’t left yet.

You tried the door, it opened with ease. Your teacher sitting at their desk.

Your teacher spoke your name when she looked up at you, “You need something?” She asked.

“I just forgot my textbook, I’ll be quick.” You rushed towards your desk, finding the book tucked under your chair. Luckily, no one else swiped it as the day went on.

You gave her a quick thanks and said goodbye, she returned the farewell with a “Have a nice day.”

This time the halls really were empty, the only signs of life were behind closed doors where after school clubs were meeting. It was weird seeing these halls so quiet, it’s usually a tight squeeze just going from one class to the other.

You fiddled with the tape holding together your textbook, the poor thing was barely intact. You wondered what it had seen, how many hands it has passed through before being assigned to you.

Before your thoughts went further, you rammed into someone’s chest. Your book slamming into the ground as a result.

“Oh! Sorry, sir.” You quickly took a step back, grabbing your textbook off the floor.

“’S all right.” He mumbled out. Another man stood behind, a dark stare glared into your eyes.

They stood tall, way too old to be students and not in any sort of janitorial uniform.

“I-I’ve never seen you guys here before, are you someone’s parents?” You asked a little nervously, people weren’t allowed on school property without a visitor pass and you knew most of the faces of the staff.

A sudden beeping began to go off, the man you bumped into turned to his friend. Your gaze curiously turned to the man behind, a device in his hands going off as it pointed to you.

With a small step forward, “You come by anything.. _odd_ , recently?” He asked.

“Odd?” You questioned, taking an even larger step back.

“She’s been near it at least, shows here she came into contact with it within the last 24 hours.” The man with the device stated. Your eyes widening as he relayed the information.

“I’m gonna ask you one more time,” He stepped into your personal bubble “you come by anything odd recently?” His voice was quiet, but held a deep rage in each syllable.

“I-I…” You tried to answer, unsure how to tell him you had no idea what he was talking about.

Suddenly, your name was called from down the hall.

“I’ve been looking for you!” Your eyes darted to the new voice, a head full of chocolate curls making his way to you.

The men quickly composed themselves, the one with the device decided to hide it in his jacket.

“P-Peter?” You asked, unsure of what was going on. You didn’t even think he knew your name.

“We were supposed to meet up, remember?” He walked up next to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “We were supposed to work on the project, _partner_.” He emphasized, his eyes stared into yours, hoping you would get the hint.

You quickly looked up at the two men in front of you, they awkwardly looked to each other as they tried to figure out what to do next. Peter waited for your eyes to meet his again before he subtly nodded his head in their direction.

Oh

“Y-Yeah! Yeah, I remember. My place, right?” You improvised.

“Yup!” He replied, starting to drag you away from the two men and towards the front entrance.

Your knuckles held tightly onto your worn textbook, the sweat of your palm causing the tape to slip in place. Peter’s hand kept a tight hold on your shoulder, you subconsciously leaned into him as you both made your way out of the school. The men didn’t seem to follow you out, but you didn’t want to even look back to check.

Peter continued to hold onto you as you walked down the school steps, you began to feel a different kind of nervous as you walked further away from the gate.

You both turned a corner, and his arm finally returned to his side. You were suddenly a little cold.

“Whew! Those dudes were a little creepy.” He commented. You both stopped under a large tree.

“How did you know?” You asked, eyebrows raised.

“Know what?”

“Oh you know!”

“How am I supposed to know what you think I know?!”

“I know you know so stop avoiding the question!”

You pointed a finger into his chest, the firmness caught you off guard for a moment.

He let out a sigh before running his fingers through his curls, “You just… You looked like you needed help. I saw those dudes wandering around earlier so it kind of worried me to see them cornering you like that…” He answered, his eyes staring down at his feet as they toed the grass.

It was cute, you concluded. _He_ was cute. And not in that ‘looks pretty’ way, no, he was absolutely adorable. The way his hand scratches at the back of his neck, how the tips of his shoes turn green from kicking the grass below. His eyes stay at the floor, avoiding your own. He was taller than you, so it took even more effort to avoid his gaze. He worried for you, took the effort to make sure you got away from them safely. _It was cute_.

“Thank you.” You breathed out, he barely caught your words. His hand froze over his baby hairs, his feet stopped kicking, and his head slowly looked up to meet your eyes. His eyes are beautiful, you thought. They look amber in the sun.

“It’s no problem. I just wanted to help out.” He spoke sincerely, you smiled.

You fiddled with the hem of your shirt again, the material crumbling in your fingers. Heat rose to your cheeks, and you decided to take a leap of faith.

“So, uh… If you really want to come to my place then the offer still stands?” You asked nervously, not making eye contact. “My mom cooks a mean lasagna…”

Peter was frozen, his eyes scanning you as you played with the end of your shirt. He wanted to say yes, wanted to scream yes. He wanted to head over to your place right now and talk to you and eat lasagna and hang out and look at you, he wanted to do it all. But he had a job to do.

“I-I’m sorry, I’d love to but-” He tried to phrase it as gently as he can, but it didn’t matter to you.

“Oh, no don’t worry about it. Sorry that was a little forward of me. We just talked for the first time and I already invited you over…” Your hand dropped from your shirt, it now tightened the strap to your bag. Your other hand’s knuckles growing white from clutching the textbook so hard. “I’ll see you tomorrow in chem, thanks again for helping out. I’ll make sure to report those dudes to the principal.”

You began to rush off, leaving Peter to stand under the tree on his own. His mouth left open, wanting to call you back to him. Nothing came out.

You were too embarrassed to look back at him. Internally reprimanding yourself for being so forward.

 _We just met_ , you thought, _He probably thinks I’m creepy now_.

But you walked home, not once looking back.

 

“I messed up, I messed up!” Peter lay on the floor, his face shoved into the carpet. Ned sat on his bed, watching the little spider GPS relay the bad guy’s location.

“There really wasn’t much you could do, man.” He messed with the hologram, zooming it in and out. “You did the right thing, Mr. Stark would appreciate you putting the mission over a girl.”

“She’s not just any girl…” Peter mumbled some more. He thought back to the look on your face when you asked him. How you couldn’t look up at him, you were just as nervous as he was. The way your face glowed when you let the words out. Your hair lightly blowing into your face and your hand wrinkling the bottom of your shirt. Even the way you looked up at him when he first called your name in the hall. How his arm fit perfectly around you and the way you seem to lean into him, it was wonderful. Your smile when you thanked him, your voice barely a whisper.

“You’re starting to get gross.” Ned broke through his thoughts.

“Gross? How?” Peter turned his head towards his friend.

“Your face first into a dirty carpet talking about her hair and smile or whatever while we’re tracking a henchman for an evil lair.” He stated.

 _Oh. I said it out loud_. He realized.

“She’s just so… wow.” He concluded. His face turning back into the carpet. “And I vacuum… sometimes.”

Ned raised a brow, looking down at his pathetically in love friend.

 

Peter’s in trouble, and it’s the best thing to ever happen to him.


	3. Chapter 3

It was late into the night. You sat at your desk, finishing up some Stats homework.

The problems went through your head, blocking any thoughts of _The Incident_. Yes, that moment where you asked him to come over. Peter Parker. You’re newfound problem.

Your phone rang on your desk, a picture of your mom sticking her tongue out appeared on the screen.

“Hey, Mom.” You answered, fitting your phone to your ear.

“Hey sweetie, I’m staying a little late at the diner so you have to figure out dinner for tonight.” She spoke, plates clanging and orders being yelled can be heard in the background. “There’s probably some cash in my dresser, and don’t even pretend to not know which dresser I’m talking about.”

You let out a chuckle, you figured out where your mom hid some money years ago.

“Yeah, I think I got it covered.” You picked up your wallet, checking it’s contents. “I’ll let you know though. Thanks, Mom”

You told her to have a good night, she told you not to get into trouble. You hung up the phone, heading towards your closet for a jacket.

 

You could go down the street to the deli, but you also were feeling a little more of those hand-made pupusas from the mom and pop shop a few blocks away. They always seem to make their food with love.

It was also a little chilly out, you realized, so warm and freshly-made pupusas would be perfect.

You walked down the street, pulling you jacket tighter around you to fight off the cold. You securely held onto the strap of your bag, the material was worn against your fingers. You should get a new bag soon, you thought.

People passed you on the street, some giving you a polite smile as you walked. You forget sometimes, that there were genuine people in the world.

People like Spider-man, you remembered.

You reached the shop in no time, the couple behind the counter greeting you kindly.

“Number 2, right?” Gabriel asked you as the door closed behind you.

“Yep, I don’t think I’ll ever get anything different.” You added, handing the gentleman what you owe.

“You should at least try some pan dulce, they never disappoint.” Alba spoke as she prepared your order.

You eyed the various desserts behind a panel of glass, the different colors and shapes mesmerizing you. You read the small labels, some of the pastries holding different flavors or jellies inside. You seemed to be drooling by the time Alba finished your pupusas.

“Here, try this one.” She grabbed one of the pastries with a tong and shoved the good in a small paper bag. “You can never go wrong with a concha.”

You reached back into your bag to pay for the pastry, but Alba stopped you.

“On the house, sweetie.” She smiled at you, handing you the bag. Gabriel finished packing the hot box into a plastic bag, tying a quick knot at the top before handing you that as well.

“Que te vaya bien, mija!” Alba called out as you opened the door, you waved back at her and thanked her for the food. They were such kind people.

 

You walked under the street lamps, a light buzz would ring from them as you passed each bulb. Your hand slightly swaying the bag by your thigh, the corners bumping into you as you walked. Cars whizzed past you on the street, laughter and yelling could be heard as you passed apartment buildings or late night shops. New York really never slept.

You stopped on front of the steps to a different building, adjusting your grip on the bag and fixing the strap of your purse.

“I’m starting to think you like walking alone at night.”

You turned with a jump, the voice scaring you.

“Maybe I’ll stop if you scare me like that again.” You answered, a hand on your chest.

Spider-man chuckled, he took a tentative step forward.

“Then I should probably scare you again.” He answered back, the ends of your lips curling up ever so slightly.

“Don’t you have some crime to stop? A neighborhood to protect?” You asked, switching your bag to the other hand.

“Been a slow night.” He replied. “Saw you walking and thought I’d say ‘Hi'”

Your smile widened, a flutter in your chest.

“Hi.” You spoke. Your eyes trying scanning over the white panels of his mask.

“Hi.” He breathed, the stretch of his mask betraying the grin hiding underneath. You looked at him so innocently, unaware of the effect you had on him. His heart doing flips in his chest and his skin heating up like an oven.

You swiped a lock of hair behind you ear, “So you gonna stand there or walk me home?” You asked, unsure yourself where the confidence came from.

His knees melted at the question, he wanted to collapse. His whole body weight suddenly enough to break his super strength.

“Yeah, yeah let me grab that for you.” He stepped forward, grabbing the bag from your hand.

“It’s not heavy, just some food.” You assured him, but he still pulled the strap from your fingers. You held onto the pastry bag, wrinkling the corners of the paper bag.

 

You both walked in relative sync. You were a little more verbal this time around talking about the chem quiz from the day before. He mentioned that Chemistry was his favorite subject, you joked that he was a nerd.

“It was a weird day though, some dudes were at our school and they just looked out of place. Kept asking me a vague question. Pretty much getting in my face. Principal said he’d look into it, but I haven’t heard about them since.” You explained, unaware of Spider-man’s involvement in the situation.

“That’s crazy, they just let some guys walk on campus like that. Must of been scary.” He mentioned. His grip around the plastic bag tightening.

“Well, it was at first.” You started, smiling lightly to yourself. “But someone helped me out.”

Your thoughts then ran over the events that occurred afterwards, _The Incident_. You cringed to yourself, your smile disappearing from your face.

“Someone?” He asked, his interest peaking.

“Yeah, this guy in my class.” You began. “I think he was just doing something nice. He probably thinks I’m weird.”

Peter furrowed his brows, the mask doing it’s best to display his expression. You kept your eyes forward, unaware of his change in demeanor.

“Why do you say that?” He asked, worried his rejection caused more damage than he thought.

“Uh, well it’s embarrassing.” You stated. You began to rip at the ends of the paper bag, curling the ends in your fingers.

“Trust me, I’ve lived a lifetime of embarrassing.” Peter tried to assure, hoping you would explain to him how you took the situation.

You let out a light chuckle, a smile returning to your features but it didn’t quite reach your eyes. It made Peter worry.

“Well I kind of invited him over, mentioned some lasagna. He probably thought I was going to kidnap him or something. I just wanted to return the favor.” You looked to your shoes as you both continued walking. “But he basically said no, so I think I took a step too far. We had talked for the first time so I probably just creeped him out.” Peter felt bad, he didn’t realize how this made you feel.

“I’m sure he doesn’t think you’re weird or anything. Maybe he already had plans, ya know?” Peter tried to assure.

“Yeah, that would make sense. I guess I just didn’t get that vibe… I don’t know, just the look on his face seemed as if he didn’t want to go. He couldn’t look me in the eyes, sorta stuttered out his answer.” You sounded disappointed, your brows furrowing together as you retold the events.

Peter wanted to assure you, tell you that it had nothing to do with you. His rejection was for the greater good, he choose his responsibilities as Spider-man over lasagna.

You slowed to a stop, Peter following as you both stood in front of the apartment building.

“Thanks for walking me again, Spidey.” You smiled at him, he let out a light laugh at the name. His own cheeks heating under the mask.

“Anytime. Have a good night… uh…” He started saying your name, catching it before giving away that he knew it.

With a gentle giggle, you told him your name. He listened intently, your lips going over every syllable smoothly. It was perfect, _you_ were perfect.

“I’m assuming I can’t catch yours though, right?” You questioned jokingly, a smile finally reaching your eyes. He melted.

You reached for the keys in your purse, walking to the door.

“Have a good night, be safe Spidey.” You spoke over your shoulder, you flashed him one more smile before making your way inside.

 

Once he was in the clear, Peter let out a sigh. His head falling back and eyes staring into the stars. You were so wonderful and beautiful, he just wanted to hug you and tell you that it wasn’t you. _I’m just dumb_ he wanted to say, every nerve in his body tingled as he held back telling the truth. Moments like this made him hate that he had to keep his identity a secret. He let his arms fall to his side, and a crinkle resonated.

_Her food._

Peter eyed the bag before shooting his glance upward. He held onto the bag and silently cursed to himself.

 

You set your purse and paper bag down, stripping your body of the jacket. You couldn’t help smiling to yourself, your hero managed to walk you home twice now. And although he wasn’t Peter, you thought, he still caused a flutter in your stomach.

And on cue, a growling resonated from deep within. You were starving at this point, and you couldn’t wait to dive into those pupusas.

You scanned the counter top, the plastic bag missing. You were confused for a moment before realization hit you, Spider-man still has your bag.

You head back to your room quickly, turning the light on so you can find your jacket again. Maybe if you hurry, you can still catch him outside. But as your hand wrapped around the door nob, a quiet knock could be heard from your bedroom.

Your mind immediately goes to your recent obsession with Ghost Adventures, maybe the spirits are trying to contact you.

Then your mind decides to reboot, landing you in a more logical and realistic scenario.

You grabbed the closest thing on the kitchen counter, a spatula your mom must have left this morning from making her breakfast.

You took calculated steps towards your bedroom, your hand tightening around the handle. Pushing it forward, it opened with a creak. Each crack deafening to you. Taking a quick look around, you find nothing out of place. Your room was somewhat a mess, but it was your mess.

Another shy knock grabbed your attention, you spun with the spatula wielded in front of you.

You dropped your arm, your hand slapping onto your face as you let out a breath. Making your way to the window, you pushed it open.

“What are you doing?! How do you know where I live?!” You asked, Spider-man sat on your fire escape.

“You left this,” He held out the bag to you, your eyes seemingly glowing at the sight. “And I just waited for a light to come on, figured you would be the one coming in.” He answered honestly.

He handed you the bag, you took it with care. Your package was delivered safely, and you couldn’t be happier.

“Were you going to hit me with that?” He asked, pointing at your weapon of choice.

“Well if you were a murderer, yeah!” You answered, now noticing how ridiculous your weapon was. “You can’t just go around knocking on people’s windows like that. It scares them.”

He let out a laugh, shaking his head.

“Well be sure to rate me five stars on this delivery, ma'am.” He joked, standing from his position. He was already turning to leave.

“Wait!” You called out, your voice a little louder than you intended. “Umm…”

You started, you looked down at the bag and then back to him.

“If you don’t anything to do right now, y-you can come in?” You asked, the scenario once more repeating itself. “I always order extra to reheat later, but you can grab some if you’d like?”

You held up the bag, your eyes desperately scanning his mask for any sign of emotion. His eyes whizzed, widening at the proposition.

_Don’t mess this up, Parker._

“S-Sure.” He finally let out, his heart pounding in his chest.

A smile broke out on your face, “Really?” You asked.

“Yeah, I-I mean if there’s no one home.” He tried looking behind you, checking the inside of the apartment. “Not that I want that! I just… I don’t want you getting in trouble for letting me in. Doesn’t look all too good, ya know?” He clarified.

You stepped aside, moving away from the window to give him room.

“It’s just me Spidey, Mom won’t be back for a few hours.” You answered. Peter took a step forward onto your desk, his foot careful of the work you left littered on the surface.

He landed on the floor with a soft _pat._ The carpet absorbing most of the impact. He stood straight once he held his balance, his face looking down to yours.

He’s in your room, Spider-man is in your home and standing right in front of you _in your room_.

You snapped out of your thoughts, turning towards the door. You motioned him to follow.

“We should eat out here,” You led him to the counter top. “Sit where you’d like.” You offered.

Opening the fridge, you offered him water. You grabbed a bottle for yourself before setting plates in front of yourself and him. You opened the bag, the heat from the styrofoam box rising up to meet you.

“Ohh… they’re still warm.” You spoke, happy to see they stayed warm on this cold night. Peter let out a chuckle.

You grabbed a few pupusas for him before piling some onto your plate. You slapped some salsa on yours and offered it to Peter. He did the same.

Peter then looked down at his plate, unsure how to go about eating. You were already digging in when you noticed.

“Wait, I can turn around if you’d like? I promise I won’t look.” You figured he wanted to keep his mask on, despite how curious you were to see him.

“No! I’ll just…” He pulled at the bottom of his mask, the material rolling up to his nose. He looked a little funny.

You saw his lips, how they smiled at you when he gave you a thumbs up. The way they curled up and revealed his pearly whites. Your eyes followed his jaw line, how his cheek clenched when he chewed. He looked young, you concluded. You were so glad your mom wasn’t home.

“You okay?” He asked between bites.

“What?” Your eyes finding their way back to the eyes of his mask. “Oh! Uh, yeah. Sorry.” You grabbed your bottle, finishing the water in one go.

You both ate in silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it did little to distract you from the lower half of Spider-man’s face. Although, there was a sense of familiarity, you just couldn’t put your finger on it.

 

You cleared the counter top when you both finished. He was busy eating his half of the pastry as you washed the dishes. You had tried a bite and it was absolutely _wonderful._

He stood in your room, his mask back over his face. You looked down at your feet before he finally spoke up.

“Thanks for the food, I usually don’t eat until I get home.” He said. You looked up at him.

“Well, thank you for walking me home.” You smiled at him, that same heart-melting smile.

You looked at each other for a moment before he turned abruptly. He already began climbing out the window when you spoke up once more.

“Feel free to come by whenever you can. I’ll make sure you’re fed.” You offered, his mask stretched trying to hide his smile.

“Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind.” He answered before squeezing onto the fire escape.

You both said good night, and you shut the window behind him. The pastry wasn’t the sweetest thing to happen tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

You sat next to Beverly, her attention currently on the girl across from her. You hardly paid attention to the girls, one of them talking of a boy. So you sat in silence, picking at your food with a hint of a smile on your face. You couldn’t help yourself.

“So! What happened next?!” Beverly shrieked. Her hands slapped on the lunch table, your attention was yanked from your own thoughts.

“Soo…” She dragged, “He handed me back my purse and his fingers just barely touched mine, I swear it’s like electricity flowed between us.”

“Are you sure you didn’t just shock him with static?” Beverly squinted, her question lined with skepticism.

“Bev! I’m telling you, when he saved me from that mugger it was meant to be. Spider-man is totally my soulmate.” The girl stated. Her food stabbing into her food before shoving it in her mouth.

You held back a chuckle. Although Spider-man was a hero, he seemed to be stealing hearts left and right. You couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

“Riley, listen, it’s not that I don’t believe you…” Beverly started, her hands holding on top of each other. “it’s just that _I don’t believe you_.”

Riley threw her fork at Beverly while she let out a wheezing laughter, her arms shooting up to protect herself. You shook your head, that chuckle finally letting out.

“Whatever Bev, I hate you. I have a new best friend now.” Riley scooted in the bench so she now sat across from you. You just raised a brow. “So, best friend! Got any juicy gossip for me?”

Riley kept her attention on you, ignoring the flailing attempts of Beverly to apologize.

“I’m not sure I got anything ‘juicy’ for you, sorry.” You went along, ignoring Beverly as she squeezed your arm.

“What? Everyone’s got somethin’ _juicy_!” Riley threw her hands in the air.

“I don’t!” You retorted. “And can you stop saying ’juicy’!”

“C'mon! There’s gotta be something! Bev, I’ll stop ignoring you if you help me out!” Riley bargained.

“Do you have beef with someone? Are you a Captain America sympathizer? Do you put pineapple on pizza?” Beverly kept shooting questions at you, no matter how many times you tried to turn away from her.

You were surprisingly holding your own, kept your expression stoic as you continued eating. Their questions didn’t phase you, and you weren’t going to let them.

“Is there a _boy_?” You were phased.

Your cheeks heated at the thought, how Peter wrapped an arm around you and the way he smelled. His body spray gave off a woodland scent, but the city smell of streets and subways will never be covered. The way his hand gripped your shoulder, the pressure made you forget of everything around you. The men, your chemistry book, everything.

But those thoughts were cut short when _The Incident_ came up. Your brows furrowing as you relived the moment where you embarrassed yourself. Of course he wouldn’t go to your house, that was the first time you ever talked. Stupid lasagna. But you noticed the thoughts weren’t as severe as before, Spider-man suggesting that Peter could have been busy.

_Spider-man_

Now _that_ thought melted your heart and weakened your knees. Thankfully, you were sitting. He was so polite, making sure you got home. He even brought up your food after mistakenly forgetting the bag. He ate with you, kept you company on a night you would have otherwise spent alone. It was sweet, _he_ was sweet.

“Oh my God, it’s a boy.” Riley spoke. You looked up at your friends, they both gave you equally mischievous grins. You were nervous.

“What? No, it’s not a boy!” You defended, but you knew your cover was blown when they asked the question.

“Fine, a girl then. Give it up, what’s her name? Is she cute?” Beverly asked, you choked on your water.

“He’s not a girl!” You clarified.

“SO IT IS A BOY!” Riley stood from her spot, neighboring tables silenced as they looked in your direction. You frantically pulled on her sleeve.

“Shh! Sit down!” You tugged, but she didn’t budge. Her eyes were wildly scanning your face for any hints. “Stop! If you sit down I’ll tell you!”

She sat back down with a slam, the bench rattling at the impact. She folded her hands under her chin, a curious brow raised.

“Go on.”

You squeezed your eyes shut, there was no getting out of this one

“It doesn’t matter if I told you. He thinks I’m weird.” You decided to go with Peter, explaining your crush on Spider-man might be more difficult. You didn’t even know him, so you weren’t sure if what you felt was real or simple admiration over the hero.

“That’s alright. I think you’re weird and I like you.” Beverly spoke.

“Wow, thanks.” You deadpanned. You stabbed your fork into your food, you suddenly weren’t hungry anymore.

“It’s not a bad thing, everyone’s weird in their own way, ya know? Normal doesn’t exist.” Beverly said. Maybe she’s onto something.

“She’s right you know. And besides, who wants _normal_ anyways. It’s boring.” Riley pouted. “So hurry up, lunch is almost over. Spill it.”

You thought about it for a moment. Your cheeks getting hotter by the moment.

You looked behind Riley. A few tables away sat a mop of chocolate brown curls, all brushed precisely into place. You couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s Peter…” You mumbled. They still heard it.

“PETER?!” Riley yelled again, both you and Beverly shushing her. Luckily, he didn’t hear. “As in _Peter Parker_?!” She whisper yelled, she leaned forward as far as she can.

“He’s a smart cookie. A little too baby faced for my tastes but I can totally see why you’re pining after him. He’s got that 'lonely boy’ vibe that makes you want to snatch him up and save him from his dark and demented past that he tries to hide by being perky and smiley all the time.” Riley spoke.

“Well demented past or not, it doesn’t matter! I already freaked him out so he’s never gonna look at me that way.” You concluded. Beverly and Riley shared a look, both their expressions showing pity.

“Did he tell you that himself? Or are you just assuming.” Beverly questioned. But her tone showed she already knew the answer.

“I don’t have to hear him say it, he thinks I’m weird.” You let your forehead rest on the table.

“Okay, well whatever you did, it can’t be _that_ bad.” Beverly assured.

“I asked him over and offered lasagna. It was the first conversation we ever had.” You spoke, still face first into the table.

Both Beverly and Riley gave each other a cringed look.

“Okay, maybe it was a little awkward. But hey! Lasagna’s nice!” Riley offered. “At least I think so. I’m vegan.”

“What? There’s vegan lasagna, Ri.” Beverly stated. Her brows knitted together.

“Yeah but at that point, is it even lasagna?” Riley spoke. The bell rang, lunch was over and it was now passing period. Your face was still in the table.

“Maybe If I stay here forever then the janitors can sweep me up and throw me in the trash.” You thought out loud. Beverly let out a chuckle.

“C'mon now, I know you got another quiz in chem so I’ll walk you over.” Beverly offered. You’d forgotten about the quiz, it just added to your misery.

“Nah, I think I’ll just be trash for now.” You stated. Your friends were silent. Not even a snarky comeback or chuckle of acknowledgment. You frowned a little, raising your head towards them.

You should have just crawled in the trash yourself.

“H-Hey there…” Peter stood by your table, staring down at you. “I just wanted to ask if you had notes on this section? I forgot my notebook and I usually look them over before a quiz.”

Your eyes were saucers, mouth left agape. You could feel the blood rush into your ears, a steady _thump thump thump_. You wanted to cry in that moment, scream and fall into a ditch somewhere will no one will ever find you. Did he hear you talk about wanting to be trash? Is your forehead red? Oh God, you thought, you probably looked insane.

“Uh-um. Yes. Yes I do.” You struggled to get out. Your friends staring at you as if the scene in front of them was a T.V. show. You wished.

You struggled with the zipper of your backpack, finally opening it with a _zwip!_ You flipped through the pages of a light blue notebook before handing it to him. Your section notes highlighted and legible for him to figure out. Your fingers touched for a moment, a quick shock hit you both.

_Electricity_

He didn’t say anything about it, he simply thanked you with a smile before heading back to his friend. Your hand smacked into your forehead.

“ _Please_ tell me this is a nightmare?” You asked your friends.

“You think I’d be in your nightmare? I’m offended.” Beverly joked. You didn’t laugh.

“Oh my God, this is worse than the lasagna.” You rubbed your face. “You guys didn’t warn me that he was here!” You whisper shouted. You rose with them from your seats. Your trio walking out of the cafeteria.

“Hey! If we warned you then he would have known something was up!” Riley defended.

“Yeah, we actually did you a favor, missy.” Beverly chimed in. You just continued to rub your forehead, hoping it won’t be red by the time you get to class. “But hey, he talked to you! That means he doesn’t think you’re a total creep!”

You groaned, staring at the ceiling as you walked to class. “Well he probably does now!” You brought your head back down, watching your worn shoes take their steps, _left right left right_.

“I probably looked like a tomato talking about 'being trash’ while practically eating the table.” You spoke, just as you reached your class.

“Well, it wasn’t _probably_ , you really _did_ look like a tomato. Being face first into a table for that long can’t be good for circulation.” Beverly admitted. You groaned again.

“I hate you guys.” You said. Their faces smiling back at you as they continued walking to their class.

“Whatever, see you in 6th!” Riley shouted, Beverly waved.

You shuffled into the classroom, walking towards the back with your eyes down. You almost reached your desk when your name was called.

“Here, thanks for letting me borrow it. I tried cramming as much as I can.” Peter held out the notebook. A genuine smile on his face. Your knees were weak.

“Oh, yeah. No problem.” You took the notebook and he quickly returned to his seat. Just as you reached your own you turned to his spot close up front. He was smiling at you, giving you a quick thumbs up before turning back. The bell had rung and the teacher was passing out the quiz.

You felt warm inside, a smile breaking past your grimace. It was nice.

 

The school day was over, students rushed out into the halls so they can go home. You were squeezing past your peers trying to make it to the front gate in one piece. After school traffic was always the worst, especially on a Friday.

You walked out of the gates, spotting the bright yellow bus parked in front of the school. You remembered there was something for Decathlon this weekend, Liz mentioned it to you during class.

You were walking on the sidewalk, watching the whole team chatting together.

“Hey Liz!” You greeted as you came by the team. She looked at you with a smile, her features lighting up as she caught you.

“Hey! How’d you do on the quiz?” She asked.

“Eh.” You answered honestly. You were more distracted this time around, making you worry about how well you did. “You guys heading out to D.C., right?”

She nodded her head. She looked back at her team for a moment.

“Yeah, we’re just getting ready to leave.” She answered.

Before you could say more, panicked steps rushed behind you.

“I’m here! I made it! Is it too late for me to go?” Peter asked Liz, a few of his curls stuck to his forehead. His chest was puffing out, his breathing slowly coming back down to normal. Your stomach was doing back flips, your mind was blank. You just stared at him, unsure how to work your body anymore.

“Hey wait! You can’t just show up late and expect your spot back!” Flash commented. His face contorted with anger.

“Hey, Peter! Welcome back! Flash you’re out, Peter you’re in.” Mr. Harrington spoke as he stepped out of the bus.

Flash was visibly seething. It warmed your heart.

“Well, good luck you guys!” You gave Liz a small wave before you stepped away.

“Wait!” Peter called out. You almost didn’t turn back. You didn’t think he would be talking to you, especially after what happened during lunch.

“I just wanted to thank you again.” He spoke, the ends of his lips were curled up lightly. “Ya know, for the notebook.”

“I’m sorry.” You suddenly spoke. Strangely out of context.

“Uh, sorry for what?” He genuinely questioned. His smile faltered, brows furrowed. He was worried he did something wrong again.

“I’m sorry I’m so awkward and weird.” You held onto the hem of your shirt again, wrinkling it between your fingers. _Cute_ , he thought. He first noticed that habit when he met you as Spider-man. “Social interactions aren’t exactly my specialty.” You answered lightheartedly. Hopefully easing the situation in your head.

He let out a light chuckle, his eyes crinkled with the smile. It sounded amazing, the noise making your heart flutter. Your cheeks were warm again.

“Yeah, I’m in the same boat.” He answered honestly. His hand ran quickly through his locks, pulling it away from a sweaty forehead.

You smiled at your feet, this was nice. “Well, I’ll let you go. Seems like your team is waiting.”

Peter turned, his team were already on the bus. He wished he could talk to you longer, even if for just a moment more.

“Good luck with that, Liz says it’s a huge deal.” You told him. “I’ll see you around, Peter.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you.” He answered. A smile permanently stuck to his face.

You gave him a quick wave before turning back around. You let a huge smile take over once you started walking back down the street. Your feet felt light, each step held a small bounce. Your heart was still beating strong in your chest, the butterflies still in your stomach. You hoped this feeling would never go away.

Neither did he.


	5. Chapter 5

You were with your mom when it happened. You sat at the table doing homework while she started dinner. You were both laughing with each other when your phone buzzed. You ignored it. You said something about your mom’s cooking, she yelled an insult back. You can’t remember it now. Your phone then went off again, one more time, then another. It kept going, moving closer and closer to the edge. You picked it up. The clock read 4:03.

You scrolled through the notifications, some of them from social media.

“ _Text from Beverly (5)_ ”

“ _Google Alerts: Bomb in D.C._ ”

“ _Twitter: Attack on Washington Monument_ ”

“ _Missed Call from Beverly (3), Riley (1)_ ”

“ _Text from Riley (2)_ ”

There was a lump in your throat. Your mom asked if you were okay, it went unheard. You kept rereading the words, not even bothering to open the notifications. Your mom ended up snatching the phone from your hand after her many attempts to get your attention. Her face drained of all color.

She switched on the T.V. in an instant, quickly switching through the channels until the news came on. You turned in your seat, facing the screen as a bold banner scrolled across the bottom:

“EXPLOSION IN WASHINGTON MONUMENT, VICTIMS TRAPPED IN ELEVATOR”

Your eyes frantically scanned the screen, a news anchor tried his best to show little emotion. It didn’t work. The screen then began showing a video of a family enjoying the monument. A little girl looked up in awe while a woman smiled at her. They began to stand together for a picture, a voice behind the camera telling them to smile. There was a sudden jolt, the camera shook before dust and brick crumpled down the side. The camera quickly flicked up, revealing a large crack running along one side of the pyramid that sat atop a tall column of stone.

The video was cut short, switching to a live feed.

“Oh my God…” Your mom barely whispered, a hand held tightly over her mouth.

You picked up your phone, frantically typing in the pass code before pulling up your contacts. It was a short list, so getting to Liz’s name was almost instant.

You clicked the call button, holding the device to your ear. You waited.

_Beeep pause Beeep pause Beeep_

The phone kept ringing, each second causing your stomach to twist into knots.

“ _You have reached the automated-_ ” You hung up.

Your lip was trembling, you hit the call button once more.

As the phone kept ringing, you watched the screen. Helicopters circled the Monument, people were either frantically running away or staring in awe. You weren’t sure what you would do.

“ _You have reached-_ ” You hung up again. A sob clawing its way from your throat. Your mom turned at the sound.

She watched as you tried again, your fist crumpling the hem of your shirt. Your knuckles were white. You kept thinking back to Liz’s Snapchat story. A pool party from the night before, Flash poking fun at Peter for not joining in, her team winning, Mr. Harrington awkwardly waving into the camera, and the last you saw was of her entering the Washington Monument. There were no updates after that. Your hand shook as it held the phone up to your ear.

“ _You have-_ ” You dropped the phone. The automated voice relaying its message. Your lunges struggled to take in air, your chest was on fire. A beep could be heard, your phone is recording a voicemail.

Both hands muffled your sobs. Tears streaming down your face. Liz is in there, _Peter_ is in there. Were they okay? Are they scared? Is anyone helping them?

Your mom picked the phone up, hanging it up and wrapping her arms around you. You let out a muffled sob into her shoulder. She rubbed at your back gently, letting you hiccup and cry into her.

The camera zoomed in on the monument, slowly following up its side. You watched over your moms shoulder.

“M-Mom-” You hiccuped. “Look.”

She turned towards the T.V., her face contorting in confusion.

“Is that-”

“Spider-man.” You finished.

Red and blue crawled up the Monument, the camera shakily followed his movements as he sped up the side. Webs would be shot to give him momentum, but he kept frantically crawling up.

Your sobs subsided, your bottom lip was held tightly between your teeth in anticipation. You wiped at the tears on your cheeks, watching the news intently.

One of the helicopters hovered next to Spider-man, a megaphone blasting at the masked hero.

“Return to the ground immediately!” It shouted, Spider-man kept going.

You watched as he frantically kicked at a small window. He even begun swinging into it, it didn’t budge.

Your mom was squeezing your hand, both of you watching as he climbed higher to the top. Your heart was pounding in your throat at this point.

“Return to the ground now, or we _will_ open fire!” The voice shouted from the helicopter. You stepped forward to the screen.

“He’s trying to help, you _idiot!_ ” You screamed. Your voice scratched at the shout, your mom said nothing.

Spider-man took one look back at the helicopter, the gears turning in his head. You held your breath, watching as the moments unfolded.

He pushed off the monument, spreading a pair of webbing under his arms. You watched as he flew past the blades, hooking onto the bottom of the helicopter to swing back into the window. A loud _pop!_ followed by a crash resonated. The screeching of metal made you cringe, how the camera ever picked up that noise from so far made you wince even further. Those inside must have heard that noise painfully.

There was a pin-drop silence afterwards. The helicopter stayed by the window, people below stared up in shock. No one was talking, not even the anchors.

It felt like forever. The camera was zoomed in on the window, waiting for any signs of life. You squeezed your moms hand, she let you. You seemingly didn’t even blink, not wanting to miss a moment. After a few painful minutes, the silence was cut when the camera man panned down to a newswoman.

“We just received word from authorities that all of the occupants have been safely removed from the elevator and are now on their way down the monument. No injuries have been reported so far.” She spoke eloquently into the camera, the hint of relief in her voice as she relayed the information.

You released your breath, shaking at the intake of air. Your hand was pressed against your forehead while you squeezed your eyes shut.

_They are okay_

You opened your eyes to find your mom handing you back your phone, a new notification was displayed at the top. You pressed it open.

 **Liz** : hey! everyones fine!! ill call u when i get off the phone with my parents ❤

You took a seat on the couch. You were wondering how Liz seemed so calm in her message. She always seemed so level-headed, no matter the situation. You thought this kind of event would be an exception, but it seems not.

You scrolled through your contacts, stuck in the P’s. The space between Pam and Phillip was nonexistent. You didn’t have his number, and there was no way you could get into direct contact with him. You wanted to make sure he was okay.

 

Your mom left the news on while she finished dinner. You stayed on the couch, your knee bouncing as you stared into your contact list.

You had eventually returned to your spot on the table, struggling to finish your assignment. You had just gotten off the phone with Liz, the conversation mostly being you worried over her. But after finally assuring you, you believed that everyone was safe.

Well, _almost_ everyone.

“What do you mean he wasn’t there?” You asked Liz.

“He just wasn’t, Peter didn’t even show up to the competition. We’re heading back to the hotel to grab our stuff, Ned mentioned he got sick or something so he stayed back.” She responded. A little more disappointed than anything, she really depended on him for Academic Decathlon.

You let out a worried sigh, “Okay. Call me back if anything happens. Get home safe.” You finished.

She said goodbye before hanging up. The silent line deafening in your ear.

Your stomach twisted again, your brows were furrowed in worry. You hoped he really did stay back at the hotel. What kind of trouble was he getting himself into?

 

It was late that night. Your homework was shoved into your backpack out of frustration, you decided to just do it at school. You still worried over Peter, especially since Liz hadn’t said anything. _He’s fine_ , you thought, no message is good, _it means nothing bad happened._

You were in your pajamas, leaning over your desk to close your window when you heard it.

“You’re never leaving this house ever again. I don’t care if you’re 40, I will make sure to chain you to the couch if you try and open the door.” A woman was scolding.

You took a peek out, curiosity getting the best of you.

“C'mon May, I wasn’t even actually there!” There was a whine to that familiar voice. It made you want to laugh.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? You stayed in a hotel _by yourself_ when you were supposed to be at the competition!” May said.

You watched Peter follow the woman in the building. That must have been the aunt he lives with, she really was quite the beauty.

You almost never saw Peter in the building, him being a few floors below you. His schedule seemingly prevented him from ever bumping into you. But you did see his aunt often, sometimes running into her in the laundry room.

Once they disappeared into the building, you shut the window. You were finally able to calm your nerves, him being safe and at home.

You walked out of your room and into the kitchen. You were scavenging the fridge for any snacks before you head to bed. You knew it was a bad habit, but you couldn’t help yourself.

 

You settled for a bowl of cereal, finding nothing else worthy of your late-night habit. You held onto the bowl with steady hands, making sure to shut off the lights as you scurried back to your room. The empty hall always giving you chills when you shut the lights. You pushed your bedroom door closed with your hip, leaving the lights on in your room.

A quick _tap tap tap_ caused you to shriek. Your precious cargo flinging into the air, pouring milk and frosted flakes all over your carpet.

You turned with wide eyes, finding Spider-man hanging upside down on the other side of your window. His hand was covering his mouth, eyes as wide as they can possibly go. He saw everything.

You slapped a hand over your face, not even wanting to look at the mess on the floor. You headed towards the window, opening it with a little more anger than intended.

“ _May I help you?_ ” Anger laced every word.

“I’m so sorry.” Was all he could say. You stepped aside, letting him crawl into your room. You closed the window behind him, keeping the cold air out. “Let me help you clean it up!” He offered.

“Oh, that’s so kind of you.” You replied sarcastically. “It’s not like I was going to make you clean it anyways.”

He knew he should feel guilty, some sort of regret for scaring you. But all he could think about was how _adorable_ you were angry. You were usually more reserved, small laughs here and there. He didn’t even think you were capable of anger. But the way you furrowed your brows, your sarcasm dripping from those lips. The same ones that held such a beautiful, heart-breaking smile.

Don’t even get him _started_ on your outfit. The over sized ‘Jurassic Park’ shirt reached your thighs, almost completely covering the pair of shorts you had on. The shirt was slanted, leaving a peek of your shoulder sticking out. He wanted to melt.

“Stay here.” You commanded.

“Yes, Ma'am.” He responded automatically. He watched your figure leave the room. Trying his hardest to keep his eyes up. He didn’t try hard enough.

You returned with an arm full of towels, all ranging in colors. You handed him a red one before leaving the rest on the bed. You got on your knees by the stain, trying to soak up milk with your own purple towel. _Blot, don’t rub_ you remembered.

Peter stared at you frozen, unsure exactly how legs work. He just watched you work on the stain, flipping and folding at your towel for a clean spot.

“Well? Get down here are start blotting Spidey!” You commanded once more.

“O-Oh! Right!” He spoke before joining you on the floor.

He followed your movements, making sure to not rub the stain in. Does milk stain? He didn’t want to find out.

“I’m sorry I made you spill.” He commented.

“It’s okay.” You spoke lightly, looking up at him. There was a lopsided smile on your part. He thought he couldn’t fall in more love.

 

You ended up vacuuming over the stain, probably a poor decision but you didn’t want to pick up the individual frosted flakes that littered your room. Peter held onto the ceiling as you went over the whole floor, not wanting to be in the way. You thought it was cute.

You mentally apologized to your downstairs neighbor, hoping the vacuum didn’t disturb them. Putting the vacuum away, you walked back into the room, avoiding the still damp patch in the middle of your room. Peter still held onto the ceiling, but this time was hanging by a web. What a dork.

Taking a seat on your bed, you watched as he slowly descended from the string. He was eye level with you now.

You gave him a warm smile, “Thank you.”

“Oh-yeah, no problem. It’s the least I can do. I mean I’m the one who scared you into spill-”

“Not about that.” You interrupted. He just stared, scanning your face for any hints of what you mean.

“My friend was on that elevator.” You filled the silence.

“Oh.” He said. “Uhm, I was just in the neighborhood, ya know.” He tried answering. He scratched at the back of his head, a habit it seems.

“You’re good at this 'hero’ thing.” You looked down at your lap, your fingers pinching the end of your shirt. “Especially for being a kid.”

He was taken aback, his posture shifting even as he hung upside down.

“I-I’m not a kid!” His voice deepened. “I’m a man!” He puffed out his chest, putting his hands on his hips as his feet pinched the web holding him.

“Yeah, right, _Spider-boy_.” You teased. A chuckle leaving your lips.

He couldn’t help but laugh along. Your laughter struck him right in the heart, the arrow piercing with no remorse. He was so lost in your smile and he wouldn’t want it any other way.

You stood up from the bed, walking up to him. The panels of his eyes widened with a _whizz_ when you placed your hands on his cheeks. You ran your thumbs over the soft material, taking in every bit of his mask.

With a leap of faith, you leaned in.

Your lips connected with the cheek of his mask, he held still for you. Your eyes shut when you made contact. Savoring the moment, committing it to memory. Even down to his scent, _rosewood_ , you realized.

He thought he had died and gone to heaven. Maybe he fell with the elevator? Did he catch himself when he propelled down the shaft? Who cares. What ever higher being granted him this moment, he was thanking profusely in his head.

He let you hold him in place, your lips gently pressed against his cheek. He wanted to rip his mask off, remove the layer that prevented any true contact.

But before any irrational thoughts came true, you pulled away.

Your hands still held onto him, a shy smile on your face.

“My friend is alive because of you. Thank you, Spider-boy” You meant the gratitude with all your heart. But you felt the need to joke with him, lighten any awkwardness that might arise from your bravery.

Peter stared at you with wide eyes. His heart pounding with an immeasurable speed. His chest was going to burst open and his heart was going to drop to the floor. He always thought the phrase 'looks that can kill’ held a malicious meaning. But right now, in this moment, he knew that phrase was reserved for you and that beautiful smile. The way your eyelashes fluttered and how you brushed aside locks of hair. It all was deadly, and Peter didn’t want to leave the crossfire.

“Mhmm. Yup. N-No problem” He tried answering, his head nodding in your hands. “Wow, um. Okay, make sure to tell your friend to get into more dangerous situations, yeah?”

You laughed at his sudden declaration. Your heart fluttered in your chest, cheeks warming at his comment.

“Sure, Spidey.” You joked.

You finally removed your hands away from him, his cheeks instantly missing the warmth they provided. His face seemed to follow them just for a moment out of instinct.

“C'mon, I’m getting a new bowl of cereal.” You spoke by the door.

He twisted in his web to face you, watched as you motioned him to follow.

Peter gently lowered himself to the floor, the web remaining on the ceiling.

“That better come off, Spider-boy.” You spoke over your shoulder, walking to the kitchen.

“It’ll dissolve.” He said. _Just like my heart_ , he thought.

The rest of his visit was spent eating cereal. He picked fruit loops, you stuck to frosted flakes. He sprinkled more sugar into his bowl and you couldn’t help but laugh.

A sweet tooth for a sweetheart.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a brand new tumblr that gets updated first!!! [magic-marvel](https://magic-marvel.tumblr.com/)

Peter sat with Ned, both boys taking their respective seats next to each other at the lunch table. Peter held his chin in his palm, a far off gaze in his eyes.

“So I was thinking we could rebuild the Deathstar Thursday night. My Stats test is that day so I won’t have to study anymore- Peter. Peter!”

Ned nudged his best friend, his elbow slipping against the surface of the table. Peter finally snapped back into reality.

“What! What? Uh yeah Thursday, study night…” Peter trailed off, his attention now lost.

“Deathstar! Thursday night, Deathstar!” Ned tried correcting. He leaned into his friend, matching his point of view to find what kept distracting him.

Ned’s focus immediately found you. Across the cafeteria, you sat with Beverly and Riley. An odd trio, he thought.

He watched as you threw your head back in laughter, your smile bright and welcoming. You clutched onto Beverly’s arm, holding onto for dear life while you practically fought to get air back in your lungs. Ned wasn’t sure what made you laugh, but the display made him realize exactly why Peter was so distracted.

“You gotta try again.” Ned spoke. He returned his attention to his plate and scooped a spoonful of food into his mouth.

“Try what again?” Peter replied. It was a surprise he heard anything at all.

“Try asking her again, dummy.” Ned said. “C'mon, you almost did it last time”

“I asked for her notebook, Ned. That isn’t exactly asking her to Homecoming.” Peter replied, taking his eyes off of you just to show the severity of the situation. “And she looked like she wanted to run. She probably won’t go with someone like me…”

Ned felt bad for his friend, he could hear in his voice how pessimistic he was about the situation. Peter finally had the courage to ask you out to Homecoming, but that was quickly shut down when he actually got to your table. Something about the way your eyes looked up at him, how your lips were parted. It made him lose his words, his courage flying out the window.

He even attempted a second time after school, but that was shut down when you apologized for being awkward. Even though he never saw you like that, he felt as if it would be the wrong time to ask.

“I think you’re selling yourself short, bro. She obviously likes _something_ about you. I mean, especially with what happened like a week ago-”

“That _something_ is Spider-man, Ned, she kissed Spider-man. If she were to ever find out that it’s really me, then she’ll just be disappointed.” Peter removed his eyes from you. He now played with the wrapper of a cookie he purchased earlier, the vending machines now being restocked in his favorite snack. But even the processed, factory made cookie couldn’t cheer him up. He just stayed cemented to his seat, and watched as you laughed and joked with your friends.

Ned knew there was nothing he could say to help Peter, no matter how hard he tried. Ned just had to let him figure out his feelings, he’ll come around soon. He always does.

 

The school day came and went as it always did, too long and too boring. But as that final bell rang, Peter sprung out of the building with newfound energy. He could finally make his rounds as Spider-man, desperately needing the distraction.

But he found that even that was not enough. With every purse-snatcher and petty theft he caught, he found himself gravitating to his apartment building. _Your_ apartment building. Peter willed himself to finish the day, he had responsibilities to the people.

And yet he still wanted to drop everything, just to see you for a moment.

Peter found himself looking forwards to the end of the night, something he never thought would happen. He used to be ecstatic when the final bell rang. Now, it was the sun going down and the quieting of the streets that made his heart race.

It became a welcomed habit, he would stop by your room as he finished for the night. You welcomed him every time, offering whatever snacks you had on deck. Some visits were short and sweet, others left him talking with you for hours on your bedroom floor. Those were his favorites, he got to know you on a more personal level. Even if it meant he spent late nights finishing homework, he felt it was worth it.

But of course, your mom would come home from her late shifts and he would have to make a quick exit out your window.

Peter just finished writing a note and stuck it onto the unconscious perp that was webbed to a liquor store.

**THIS DUDE BROKE IN, SORRY ABOUT WINDOW**

Peter took a step back to admire his work. The note perfectly center against the robber’s chest in bold, clear writing. The police should have no problem handling this guy.

Karen read out the time for Peter, 11:46 PM. He began to make his way to the apartment building.

“Why don’t you tell her, Peter?” The curious A.I. questioned.

“I don’t- I can’t just _tell_ her. The situation is a lot more complicated than that.” He answered.

“I don’t understand what’s complicated. You very clearly like her, and based on biometric scans of her heart rate and perspiration, she seems to exhibit the same symptoms as you.” Karen relayed.

“Yeah well that only proves she likes Spider-man, not me.” Peter grumbled. “Wait, isn’t scanning her like basically an invasion of privacy? Is it even legal?”

“Peter, you and Spider-man are one in the same. I have reason to believe that she has feelings for who you are, regardless of that being either Peter Parker _or_ Spider-man.” Karen carefully avoided the legalities of her actions, and decided to give Peter a more wise answer.

“I don’t know, Karen.” Peter paused on a rooftop. “Hey, but no more scanning without my permission, alright?”

“May I analyze behavioral traits?

“No, Karen!”

 

Peter reached your window in no time. He took a look inside before knocking, learning from the accident with your cereal. He found the room empty, but the light still on. During this time, your mom would already be at work, so he gently tapped at the glass.

You hadn’t come, so he took it upon himself to let himself in.

The window was unlocked, so crawling into your room was no problem. He took a peek around before settling on your bed. He took a seat, rested his hands together in the middle of his lap. He called your name out, and he heard footsteps from the kitchen rushing towards your room.

“Spidey?” You called out. Peter yelled back in confirmation.

You hurried into the room, your eyes scanning the masked hero sat patiently on your bed.

“You can’t be here!” You panicked, tugging on his hand to get him up.

If he wasn’t worried for your demeanor, he would have exploded at the touch.

“I-Is everything alright?” He asked as you pulled him towards the window, but he wouldn’t budge. He wanted to make sure you were okay.

“You just have to leave before-”

_Ding Dong_

You froze in place, Peter still standing by your bed.

“Get in the closet.” You commanded, ripping the door open and pushing with all your might into his chest. It was closer than the window.

“Wh-Why?” He asked, stumbling over dirty clothes that littered the floor. He was squeezed between racks of clothing, shirts and pants covering his view.

“Stay quiet! Wait till you hear me leaving before you go out the window.” You told him before closing the door with a gentle _thud_.

Peter listened intently in the dark, Karen automatically enhancing his hearing.

“Hey! You guys made it!” You suddenly called, the door could be heard closing.

“Of course we made it! Wouldn’t want to miss a night out with the birthday girl!”

_Birthday?_

“Let me just grab my coat and we can head out to the diner.” Peter heard you taking steps back into the room, but they were stopped by another voice.

“Ehh… About that…” A voice he recognized to be Riley’s.

“Ri got into some serious trouble, lost car privileges.” Peter knew this was Beverly speaking.

“What? What happened? And how did you even make it across town to get to my place?” You questioned.

“I failed my bio test. Mr. Namar ended up calling my parents to talk about it. And _poof!_ there goes my car privileges.” Peter shook his head, there were always rumors from the upperclassmen that Mr. Namar was intense.

“Next time I’ll help you study, alright?” You instantly offered, not even phased by the fact that Riley failed the test. “So how did you guys get here then?” She reminded.

“Oh! We walked.” Beverly answered.

“ _What?!_ Bev, that’s all the way across town! And it’s dark out! It’s not safe!” You began to scold, the same way mothers do to their children.

“Don’t worry, I got pepper spray.” Beverly answered nonchalantly.

“That doesn’t make me feel better!” Peter can hear the frustration in your voice, you were genuinely worried for them. And this is coming from someone he had to walk home late twice now.

“So! Why don’t we just chill out here? We brought cake!” Riley spoke, her voice traveling through the living room.

“Uh, here?” You questioned, worry lining your tone.

“Yeah why not, your mom’s not coming home for a bit, right? There’s no way we are letting you spend your birthday alone.” Beverly spoke.

If only they knew.

“I-Uhh, I don’t-” You tried getting the words out, but you couldn’t say no to your friends.

“C'mon! I’m dying to dig into this cake!” Beverly can be heard entering your room, a plastic bag dropping to the ground. “Is it me or does your carpet feel super stiff?”

“Oh, I spilled milk there like a week ago. I tried getting the stickyness out but ended up ruining the carpet.” You answered. A guilty smile formed on Peter’s face.

 

Peter stood silently in your closet for quite some time. Karen swears it’s only been 10 minutes, but it feels like hours. The tight space gave him little room to stretch, so his legs began to cramp. He tried to not listen to the conversation between you and your friends, but boredom would get the best of him.

“This is the dress?” You asked. Your voice was laced with enthusiasm, bringing a warm feeling in Peter’s chest.

“Yup! My aunt made it just for me, I think it’s perfect for Homecoming!” Beverly was ecstatic. Peter assumed she was sharing pictures from her phone.

“I’m so jealous, you’ll be turning heads as soon as you walk in!” Riley commented.

 _Not mine_ , Peter thought. Your image immediately flooded his mind.

“You should have told me your aunt designs stuff, I would have bought something from her instead of an itchy Vera Wang knock-off.” Riley commented.

“What about you, what are you wearing?” Peter listened intently, you were the last one to talk about a Homecoming dress.

“I-I don’t have a dress.” You answered.

“What? But it’s like a week away! How have you not found a dress?” Riley asked.

“Umm, well. I never looked for one.” Your voice was almost a whisper, but Karen made sure Peter could hear everything through the door. “I was never asked so I’m not going…”

Peter’s heart shattered. The disappointment in your voice made him want to burst through your closet and wrap his arms around you. He wanted to hold you tight and ask you to be his date. Peter wanted to see you in a Homecoming dress and twirl you all night long. He wanted to have you pressed against him as you both danced, nobody else in the world but you and him. He wanted you to look for that dress.

“What? C'mon babe, you don’t have to go with a date. You can come with us!” Riley invited.

“Yeah because third wheeling for _two_ couples is how I wanted to spend Homecoming.” You let out a dry chuckle. “What would I be then? Fifth wheeling?”

There was a moment of silence between the three girls. No one wanting to say anything more to hurt your feelings, but nothing could be said to make the situation better either.

“I mean, why don’t we find you a date?” Riley bravely suggested.

“Yeah, I’m sure there’s lots of guys totally down to go with a cutie like you!” Beverly added.

“I don’t know, you’d think one of those ‘guys’ would have asked me out by now.” You added.

 _I tried_. Peter thought.

“What about Peter? Why don’t you just ask him?” Riley spoke, unknowing of the situation going on in your closet.

“P-Peter? Umm, no I… I can’t just ask him.” You stuttered out.

“Why not! You had the hots for him for such a long time now!” Riley admitted.

_She WHAT?_

Peter lost his balance in the closet. He was leaning against a pile of shoe boxes stacked on a shelf, but the sudden admission by your friend caused him to add too much weight into the flimsy cardboard packages. Two was sent tumbling to the floor, his own head smacking into a higher shelf trying to steady himself.

“What was that?” One of the girls asked, Peter couldn’t tell anymore.

“What was what?” You tried dodging.

“That noise– it came from your closet.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“There was definitely a noise-”

“Here let me just check.”

“NO!”

The sentence snapped Peter out of a daze, sudden wave of panic flooded is veins. His heart could be heard pounding in his eardrums. The scuffle outside only bought him enough time to make one decision, one quick and probably avoidable choice in the matter of seconds that he had before the door was open.

It was a stupid decision, but it was made anyways.

 

Beverly swung the door open, her face draining of color and her eyes impossibly wide. You were face down in the floor, holding onto her leg while Riley took a peek inside. Her jaw dropped to the floor, her own eyes blinking furiously to try and clear her vision. But there was nothing to be cleared, what stood in front of her was true and real.

The lack of reaction brought your own eyes up, your hands pushed on the ground held you up as you stared into the closet. Words completely lost to you, the English language no longer computing in your brain. Static was going through your mind, unable to create coherent thoughts.

“Hey everyone…” Peter spoke, breaking the silence.

“PETER?!” All three of you seemed to scream at the same time. You, however, coming to a different conclusion than your other friends.

There he stood, in nothing but a pair of boxers, was Peter Parker. His suit was discarded somewhere in the closet, but your own messy habits made it very easy to toss away for the moment.

“You had Parker in your closet THIS WHOLE TIME and you decided to say _nothing_!” Beverly accused.

“I-I…” Your brain was still rebooting, your eyes not leaving the boy in front of you.

“We were trying to keep it a secret!” Peter answered for you, his eyes _pleading_ with you not to mention Spider-man. “We haven’t been together for long so we kept it from everyone!”

The lies were coming out in a spew, Peter poorly articulating his words and scenarios. Something about “taking it slow” and what not came up. If it weren’t for the shock on all three girls, the lie wouldn’t have held up.

“Is this true?!” Riley asked from behind you.

Your stare barely ripped off of Peter to look your friend in the eyes. But just as quickly, you turned back to him. His eyes practically _screaming_ with you to play along.

“Y-Yes?” You questioned more than answered. Peter finally let out a breath of relief.

“Oh my _God_ , Peter was in here and we were talking about getting you a date!” Beverly had now let go of the door handle. She took to pacing your room.

You stood up, looking back at Peter in disbelief. He tried giving you a lighthearted smile, but you continued to stare blankly at him.

“Hey, if I had a hottie hiding out in _my_ closet, I wouldn’t tell you either.” Riley admitted. Beverly paused in the middle of the room. Peter reddened at the compliment.

“I thought this is something Riley would pull, not you.” Beverly spoke, her hands now squishing the sides of your face. “I don’t know whether to be proud or disgusted.”

“I wish I coulda done something like this.” Riley was back on the floor eating cake. “Then you’d be proud _and_ disgusted.”

You were still shocked by your discovery, knowing it would take you much longer than the girls to recover.

“I-I could go, I don’t want t-” Peter began.

“Yeah, get out of here underoos!” Beverly commanded.

Peter seemingly froze at the name, worried he perhaps didn’t hide his suit in the closet very well.

“What? No! Bev, c'mon. Let’s go home and let them finish what they _clearly_ started.” Riley shot you a wink. Your brain couldn’t even catch what she implied.

“Nice undies by the way, fits you nicely.” Riley commented before dragging a slice of cake and Beverly out. That made Peter realize she was talking about his underwear, not the Spider-man suit.

There was a silent moment where they just looked at each other. The door had long closed behind Riley and Beverly, but you still couldn’t gather the words to say anything to Peter.

He awkwardly reached under a pile of clothes, pulling out the suit and mask.

“I-I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know what else to do.” Peter admitted. “It was the only thing I could think of in the moment.”

Your features began to soften, realization finally settling in your head about what just happened. You realized Peter could have stayed in his suit, let a different scenario play out when that door opened. He could have kept his identity. It would have been something difficult to explain, maybe even come back to bite him later. But he made that decision, he choose to reveal himself to you. He choose to have an awkward scenario play out so your friends wouldn’t know of your relationship with Spider-man. Ned has been able to keep it just fine, and as long as you did then you would be safe.

Peter began stepping back into his suit, the material pulled up to his hips before you pushed a hand forward. You grabbed the suit, pinching the material in both hands as it stretched from his hips. It was intimate. Not sexually, but the thought of you using his suit to relieve your nervous tick made him warm inside.

“You’re Spider-man…” You breathed out. It was quiet, more for yourself than anything.

Peter moved his gaze away from your face, his eyes concentrating elsewhere in the room.

“Y-Yeah. I am” He answered.

“Spider-man is Peter Parker…” You concluded. “ _You_ are Spider-man.”

You had looked up at him, his eyes focusing on yours. You were inches apart, breath shared between both of you as you clung to his suit.

He was smiling, his heart beating into a hum. His ears felt hot and his stomach seemed to melt from the inside. You had been more happy to realize that Spider-man was Peter, rather than Peter being Spider-man. That made him want to collapse and lay in a heap on your milk stained carpet, his muscles turning into jelly with the way you looked at him. Not Spider-man, but _him_.

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you…” Peter started, his nose brushing against yours. It was now or never, he realized. “You want to go to Homecoming with me?”

Your hands stopped working on his suit, your eyes gently blinking before a smile broke out. Your eyes seemed to brighten and your smile caused his own to widen. It was so beautiful, he concluded.

“Who’s asking?” You shifted your head ever so slightly, the new angle made Peter unconsciously follow. “Parker or Spidey?”

“Parker.” He answered.

“Then, yes, I’ll go with you.”

The deal was sealed with a kiss. Young and innocent, delicate and shy. You tasted sugar and a hint of mint.

You smiled against him when the scent of Rosewood tickled your senses.

“Happy Birthday.”


	7. Chapter 7

You sat on the floor in Peter’s room, legs crossed. Ned was on the bed behind you. Both of you sat in silence as you waited for Peter to return, making no effort to talk. He kept checking his phone, hoping there would be a notification to distract him. You took the time to look around in the room, taking in each knick knack that decorated his walls or shelves.

You both knew each other from school, but never really talked to each other. So _both_ of your unannounced arrivals at Peter’s apartment left you to sit in awkward silence as Peter talked to his Aunt in the living room.

“Bye May!” Peter called from outside his room. Both you and Ned looked up at the door.

“Bye Peter! I left money on the counter if you guys get hungry!” May called back. Peter gave her a quick thanks before the front door could be heard closing.

You stood up from the floor, Ned sat up straighter. Peter finally walked back in the room, completely unaware of the awkward air that filled the space.

“So? When do we start?” Ned asked. You nodded your head, seconding his question.

“We? _We_ aren’t doing anything. I’m gonna go figure out who these bad guys are.” Peter replied before taking a seat at his desk.

“What? C'mon! We can help!” You pleaded.

Peter looked up at you, a smile couldn’t help but tug on his lips.

“It’s dangerous guys, I can’t have you in on this.” Peter explained. “They clearly sell alien weapons for a living, so imagine if they link Spider-man back to either of you? I can’t put either of you in that danger.”

“You aren’t putting us in danger, we are choosing to help.” Ned assured. “C'mon, ‘Guy in the Chair'”

You cleared your throat.

“And 'Girl in the Chair!'” Ned added.

Both you looked at Peter for an answer, putting on your best puppy dog eyes. Ned was surprisingly effective, but one look in your direction made Peter crumble. Your bottom lip pudged out, your eyes pleading with him to say 'yes’. You even tilted your head. You looked like a kicked puppy, not at all understanding why the person they love decided to hurt them. And Peter felt like he was the kicker.

“Fine! Fine, but if I think it gets too much then you guys are out.” Peter finally agreed.

You and Ned high fived each other, huge grins adorned both your faces. Peter smiled to himself, he can see the beginning of a wonderful friendship flourish between you two. He was happy to see his girlfriend and best friend get along.

“So what now?” You asked, not even sure yourself what you got into.

“Well…” Peter started. He began to spin his chair in thought. “I don’t actually know.”

“Do you at least know who these guys are?” Ned questioned.

Peter pointed a pen at him, “I guess that’s where we’ll start!” He concluded.

You shook your head. Peter really needed help, especially when there was absolutely nothing to go off of.

“How are we gonna do that?” You asked. “It’s not like alien tech have serial numbers or anything.”

Once finding out that Peter was Spider-man, he had filled you in on his and Ned’s investigation. You knew about the Chitauri battery core being the reason behind the explosion at the Washington Monument, he also told you that the strangers at the school were after it. Peter even mentioned the scary bird guy, “Vulture”, you dubbed him. You were worried about that part, especially since he’s almost killed Peter multiple times now.

“What about during the weapons deal in the park? Do you remember a license plate or names being said?” Ned asked.

Peter thought for a moment on the question, and with a quick fumble in his backpack he pulled out his mask. In one swift movement, the mask was on and the suits system was warming up.

“Karen, can you do a search on a license plate? At least part of it? I can’t remember the whole thing.” Peter seemingly asked the air. Taking a quick glance at Ned, he gave you a knowing smile and brought his attention back to Peter. This was your first interaction with Karen, so you were pretty excited.

“I can go through recorded surveillance and scan plate numbers. I also can also run facial recognition on the individuals in the park.” Karen relayed.

“Woah…” You listened as a voice spoke back to Peter. This was Stark tech at it’s finest.

“Yeah, that’ll be perfect.” Peter leaned back in his chair. “Wait, surveillance?” Peter questioned. His eyes shrunk.

“Everything you see is recorded and stored in the Stark Industries cloud.” Karen answered.

“Everything?” Peter asked. His eyes looking back and forth between you and Ned.

“Everything. It’s called the Baby Monitor Protocol.”

“Of course it is…” Peter mumbled to himself. His pen being tossed on his desk.

You held back a chuckle.

“So Karen, is there anything embarrassing on there?” You asked. Peter squinted his eyes at you. A mischievous smile adorned your features.

“I personally do not feel embarrassment, however, I have seen Peter do things that would be deemed socially unacceptable or awkward.” Karen answered, voice chipper and happy to help.

“There isn’t- I don’t do anything embarrassing.” Peter tried defending. The waver in his voice gave him away.

“Of course you do, Peter. Here, let me show you.” Karen corrected.

One of Peter’s web shooters suddenly turned on, a projector displayed on the wall from across the desk that it was sitting on.

Peter was suddenly displayed in front of a mirror, you recognized the mess in his room behind him.

_“Hey! What’s up everyone?” Peter spoke to himself in the mirror._

“Karen!” He tried shutting off the projection. You and Ned continued watching.

_“Sick party,” He turned his head in the video and said your name, giving no one in particular a wink. “You look beautiful.”_

You shoved your hands over your mouth, hiding a huge grin as you fought back tears. You struggled to hold in laughter as the video kept playing. Ned had already long lost his cool, his body flying back into the bed as he cried in laughter.

“Karen! Stop it!” Peter tried. He only ended up fast forwarding in the day.

_“It is I, Thor! Son of Odin!” Peter held a wooden hammer in his hand and began to flex._

You instantly sputtered out a loud wheeze, laughter taking over and causing you to crumple to the ground.

Karen finally stopped the projection, “I found a record on one of the culprits, Peter.”

You and Ned were still laughing, Peter took a seat back in his chair and he turned away from you both. It would be another minute or so before you both recovered, wiping tears away and struggling to breathe.

“Oh my God, bro, who else have you done?” Ned questioned, finally sitting up on the bed.

“He does an excellent impression of Iron Man, the Winter Soldier, Black Wid-”

“Karen! Now’s not the time!” Peter interrupted.

You finally got the air back in your lungs and stood up from the floor. You walked around Peter so he would face you.

“You think I’m beautiful?” You asked, remnants of your laughter still showing on your face.

Peter looked up at you, his eyes scanning your face. “Of course I do.” He mumbled, still hurt from you laughing at him.

A smile stretched on your face, Your ears warming at the compliment.

“You’re not so bad yourself, Thor.” You said before taking a seat back on the floor, your legs crossing as Peter slapped a hand on his face.

“So, Karen, gimme names.” Peter asked the A.I. He wanted to get over this moment as fast as he can.

“I can only find the identity of one of the individuals, his name is Aaron Davis. He has a criminal record and current data shows he has an address here in Queens.” Karen explained.

“Oh. That was kinda easy.” You said aloud.

“Sweet. Well I guess I’ll pay him a visit.” Peter spoke before fishing out the rest of his suit.

“What do we do?” Ned asked. You looked up at Peter expectantly.

“Hold down the fort!” Peter squeezed into his suit, balancing on one foot for a moment.

“Hold down th- What? That’s what the superhero tells the useless person to do so they don’t get in the way.” You commented. Your face was contorted in disappointment.

“Well I can’t exactly bring you guys along.” Peter pressed on his chest, the suit shrunk to fit him perfectly. He looked good, you couldn’t help but think.

You couldn’t argue against him. Neither could Ned, since he stayed silent.

“Be careful, Peter.” You spoke, sincerity in your voice.

Peter leaned down to kiss your forehead, he brushed back hair behind your ear.

“Where’s my kiss.” Ned commented.

You snorted, Peter shooting Ned a wink before climbing out the window. You both watched as he swung behind a building, red and blue now hidden from view.

 

You pulled your backpack onto your lap, pulling out an old laptop. Stickers littered the back, the original color no longer visible. The laptop booted up, the fans running on overdrive before calming down to a low hum.

“What’re you doing?” Ned asked, curiously looking over your shoulder.

“Holding down the fort.” You replied.

You opened up various tabs, typing in the command prompt to open different programs. You continued typing away, taking no pauses as windows opened and closed quicker than Ned can read them. But he did catch one important phrase

“Stark Industries? What are you doing in fishing in their data?” Ned continued to watch you work. Your brows were furrowed in concentration.

“Karen said all the surveillance is stored on their cloud right? So if I can just…” You paused, typing in a few more commands before a video feed opened up on your screen. “There we go!”

There was a moment of static, before finally the feed showed live imaging of the Spider-man suit.

“Did… Did you just hack into Stark Industries?” Ned questioned. “It took you like, five minutes…”

“I already had back doors installed from before so I just… sneaked back in.” You turned your head around, giving Ned a proud smile. “Here, gimme your laptop.”

Ned handed you his laptop, the device much more heavy duty than yours. Seemed a lot more reliable as well. You pulled out a cable from your bag and plugged it in both USB ports in your laptop and his. Typing a few more commands on your laptop allowed Ned’s screen to rely a real time GPS map of Peter’s location. You gave it back to him, stretching out the cable to give him room to pull his laptop.

“Sweet.” He nodded, typing in his own command prompt to pull up more information. He now was able to see Peter’s suit condition and monitor biomedical scans. He was only able to do this while connected to the suit, so being able to see what’s going on wirelessly made things much easier. You watched as he continued typing, taking mental notes for future reference.

“We make a good team.” You commented. Ned nodded in agreement.

“Guys in a Chair?” He tried coming up with a name.

“ _Pair in a Chair_.” You added.

“We’ll work on it.” Ned said rather than giving you feedback. You tried not taking offense.

 

You both watched as Peter found the apartment, however, no one was home. He stood by the window, waiting on the fire escape. A few moments later, your contact popped up on his HUD. He told Karen to answer.

“Hey, Spidey. You know that grocery store on 188th and 73rd?” You asked, holding onto your phone while it was on speaker.

“Uhh… Yeah?” Peter replied, confusion in his voice.

“He’s there, his car is in the parking garage across the street.” You relayed.

“What? How do you know that?” He asked.

“He popped up security cameras in the store.” Ned answered.

Peter began to swing past buildings, making his way down the short distance to the grocery store.

“Security cameras?” He asked. “What did you guys do?”

“Don’t ask questions. The less you know the better.” You replied.

“Wh-What? What do you mean 'the less I know’?” Peter was worried.

“You know, in case Iron Man comes busting though your door then you can claim plausible deniability.” You answered.

“Hey, there’s his car! The old one missing the rear window.” Ned commented, pointing at your screen.

Peter stopped in his tracks. You watched as he stared at the car in question.

“How do you know I see his car?” Peter asked, unsure if he wants an answer.

“So we _might_ have hacked into your suit’s surveillance.” You answered. “We can see everything you see in real time.”

“You guys did _what now?!_ ” Peter held onto the ceiling as he approached the car.

“C'mon don’t be like that! You already did it before!” You whined.

“It wasn’t _technically_ hacking, it was more or less disabling safety nets built into the suit.” Ned corrected.

“Mr. Stark’s gonna kill me…” Peter concluded.

“Hey, Peter, Aaron Davis just entered the parking garage.” Ned relayed. You took a peek at his screen, Aaron was caught on the entrance’s security camera.

Peter readied himself, telling Karen to activate 'Interrogation Mode’. You were curious.

Aaron began opening his trunk, putting a bag inside before Peter webbed his hand to the car. He approached, his strides held a confidence you’ve never seen before.

“ **REMEMBER ME?** ” Peter suddenly spoke, his voice way too 'murder bot’ for your liking. Aaron was shaken for a moment, unprepared for the sudden booming in his voice.

“Woah! Calm down!” He stuck a hand up, trying to get Peter to stop.

You and Ned shared a look, eyes wide and mouths agape. What happened to Peter.

“ **YOU HAVE INFORMATION AND YOU’RE GONNA GIVE IT TO ME _NOW!_** ” He questioned, authority lining his voice.

“Hey… what happened to your voice?” Aaron suddenly asked.

“ **WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT HAPPENED TO MY VOICE?'** ” Peter asked.

“I heard you by the bridge, I know what a girl sounds like.” He replied. You let out a chuckle.

“ **I’M NOT A GIRL! I’M A BOY! I MEAN– I’M A MAN!** ” Peter insisted.

“Boy, girl, I don’t care what you are.” Aaron replied.

“ **I’M A MAN! LISTEN, TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THESE WEAPON DEALERS.** ” Peter questioned.

Aaron suddenly slammed on the trunk, the sudden movement startled Peter. Unknowingly to both of them, you and Ned also flinched at the action.

“You ain’t never done this before, huh?” Aaron observed.

“ **DEACTIVATE INTERROGATION MODE…** ” Peter spoke to Karen. “Listen man, I just need to know who’s selling these weapons. They are crazy dangerous and if they can cut down a bodega in half-”

“You know Delmar’s?” Aaron suddenly asked.

“Yeah, best sandwiches in Queens.” Peter insisted. You unconsciously nodded your head in agreement.

“Sub Haven’s pretty good.” Aaron argued.

“Eh, too much bread.”

“I like bread.”

“Peter! Get names!” You reminded him.

“Right, c'mon, you gotta give me something.” Peter pleaded.

Aaron didn’t say anything, simply looking down at his hand now webbed to the trunk.

Peter turned around, walking away with disappointment.

“Stupid interrogation mode… Karen, never do that again.” He said as he walked away. You felt bad for him, Aaron was the only lead on these guys.

“The other night, you told those dudes 'If you’re gonna shoot somebody, shoot me.’ That’s pretty ballsy.” Aaron spoke as he walked. His sentiment made Peter turn back to him. “I don’t want those weapons on the streets, I got a nephew who live here.”

Aaron was being honest, opening up to Peter. You didn’t expect it, and neither did Ned.

“Can you tell me who these guys are? What do you know about the guy with the wings?” Peter tried once again to question him.

“Other than he’s a psychopath dressed as a demon, nothin’, I don’t know where he is or who he is.” Aaron answered. Peter smacked his head against the car. “But I do know where he’s gonna be.”

Peter looked up, both you and Ned inched closer to your screen.

“Really?”

“Yeah, this dude I used to work with. Supposed to make a deal with him.”

“Yes! Yeah!” Peter exclaimed, already walking away.

“Peter! He didn’t give you a location!” You spoke up again.

“Right! Right, so where will he be?” He asked Aaron.

“Staten Island Ferry, 11:00.” He answered. Ned already pulling up the ferry on his laptop.

“Thank you! Hey, that’ll dissolve in two hours.” Peter pointed to the webbing on his hand.

“No, no! Come fix this!” Aaron demanded.

“Nope! You deserve it, you’re a criminal!” Peter was walking away, giving him a quick wave, “Bye Mr. Criminal!”

“No! I got ice cream in here, man!”

 

Peter left without another word, making is way to the ferry with you and Ned guiding him. It was exhilarating, being behind the suit like this. You never thought you’d use what you learned on something as important as this, it always seemed to be wasted on harmless pranks or school assignments. But, sitting through all those computer science classes finally came in handy between you and Ned.

Now you felt you had some control over Spider-man, at least one hand on the wheel to guide Peter safely through his adventures. You couldn’t quite name it yet, but you found that being his Girl in the Chair allowed you a sense of calm.

 

That was, until Peter arrived at the ferry.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has been up since last night on my tumblr (about 12 hours now) and i knocked out as soon as i posted it so if you have tumblr then i highly suggest you follow my blog because that will always be updated first, and it will also include personal updates like scheduling on the story. you can also request stories or one shots there!  
> [magic-marvel](https://magic-marvel.tumblr.com/)

Peter made it to the ferry in record time, arriving just as the ferry pulled away from the dock. You and Ned watched as he glided to the ship. He stuck to the side with no problem and began to crawl up to the windows.

“Karen, activate enhanced reconnaissance mode.” Peter spoke above a whisper, his HUD now filling with various faces and profiles. Karen enhanced his hearing, so all three of you are able to listen in on the conversation inside.

“ _He’s up front, main deck_.” One of the men spoke. You recognized the man he was speaking to from that day after school as he popped up on the screen. It worried you seeing him again.

“Who’s the other guy?” Ned asked.

“There’s no record of him in my criminal database.” Karen answered.

You watched as the man from school got up and walked to the main deck.

“ _Keep me posted_.” The stranger mentioned as he walked by.

“Droney, keep and eye on him.” Peter spoke, a little tiny spider drone flew out of his suit. Ned quickly pulled up the video feed from the small drone.

“Incoming call from May Parker. Would you like me to put her on?” Karen asked. A simple picture of Peter’s Aunt popped up on the screen, her smile shining and her hair flowing.

“I’ll call her back.” Peter quickly dismissed the call as he crawled up the side of the Ferry.

You watched anxiously as Peter peered over a ledge, three men stood waiting.

“Who’s the guy on the left?” Peter questioned.

“Mac Gargan. Extensive criminal record including homicide.” Karen relayed as records began popping up on the screen.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this Peter.” You held onto the hem of your shirt. “That guy is a murder, hes not just some guy looking for alien tech.”

“More of a reason to stop these guys.” Peter answered honestly.

Another moment passes before the man from earlier comes into view.

“White pickup truck.” He speaks without context. One of the men begins to walk towards the cars parked inside.

“Droney, go scan the ship for a white pickup truck.” Peter orders.

“It’s in the back.” Ned speaks as Droney scans. He enhances the camera as they pull up a tarp. Alien weapons line the truck bed, Ned takes quick screen shots to record the images.

“This is too perfect! They got the buyers, sellers, and the weapons all in one place!” Peter continues scanning the individuals before Karen speaks up.

“Incoming call from Tony Stark.”

“No, no! Don’t ans-”

“Mr. Parker!” Tony’s face fills the screen. You attempt to hold it together while your idol speaks to Peter. “Got a sec?”

“Uh-um… I-I’m actually at school!” Peter answers.

“No you’re not.” Karen responds. Luckily, she seems to go unheard in the conversation.

“Nice work in D.C.” Tony starts.

“Uh- okay.” Peter tries to keep an eye on the individuals below.

“My father never really gave me support, so I’m tryna break the cycle of shame.” Tony speaks honestly. You turn to Ned, unsure what to do in this moment.

“I-I’m uhh kind of in the middle of something right now-”

“Don’t cut me off when I’m trying to compliment you!” Tony visibly rolls his eyes. “Anyways, great things are about to happ-”

_**BRRRR** _

The ferry’s horn goes off, completely interrupting Tony.

“What was that?”

“Uhh, I’m at band practice.” Peter tries to lie.

“That’s weird…” Tony squints. “Happy told me you quit six weeks ago. What’s going on?”

“Uhh-”

“This wouldn’t have anything to that ping I got earlier would it? On your suit?” Tony accuses. “F.R.I.D.A.Y. said it came from your apartment.”

You and Ned looked at each other, you both held a look of horror. You felt as if you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar.

“I gotta go!”

“Hey-”

Peter quickly hung up. Your heart was beating out of your chest and you can see Ned’s forehead shine with sweat.

Peter webbed a set of keys, taking them from the individuals below. He began to fight with them, they started aiming guns at him.

“We gotta shut this down.” Ned speaks to you.

“What? No! We are supposed to be his backup!” You pointed at the screen while Peter continued to fight. Some of the men were webbed up while others continued charging him.

“Listen, Mr. Stark knows we hacked the suit. Peter won’t have any backup ever if Iron Man finds out and comes down here. Peter can handle himself for now while we figure out how to hide from Mr. Stark.” Ned explains, ready to close all the programs and shut down his laptop.

“It’s okay! I got this!” Peter yells as he finishes the last guy. “I’ll be alright! I promise!”

You take a moment to watch Peter through the screen. All the men seem to be held down, even the one with the electric fist. This was your only way to keep an eye on him, to make sure he gets home safely. You and Ned were supposed to watch his back behind these screens. And when that connection is lost, there will no longer be a safety net.

Ned spoke your name, his eyes pleading to shut everything down. He was right, who knows that Tony Stark could do if he found out a couple of teenagers hacked him and the Spider-man suit. Would he consider you two a threat to the Avengers? What about Peter, what would happen to him?

You held your finger over the escape key, ready to shut down all the programs.

Just as you were close everything, a group of people burst through every door surrounding Peter.

“Hands up! FBI!” Agents began to pull their weapons, all of them aiming at Peter. You hesitated.

“Woah, woah! What do you mean FBI?!” Peter questioned, his hands raised.

“The FBI is the Federal Bureau of Invest-” Karen began to answer.

“I know that the FBI is! I mean what are they doing here?!”

“Peter, you gotta get out of there!” You shouted at the phone beside you, worry flooding through your veins.

Ned called your name, you snapped your head in his direction.

“Somethings going on, this signature just popped up. It’s exactly like the purple thing.” He flipped his laptop to you. His screen marked one of the vans parked on the ferry, a small radius flickered on the screen before it began to grow. You furrowed your brows, unsure exactly what you were looking at.

“What is that?” You asked. You now wished you hadn’t.

A loud _whirr_ sounded for a quick second before the tearing of metal screeched in your ears. Peter winced, his attention turned to a now destroyed van.

The Vulture was here.

“Get out of the way!” Peter yelled at the agents as they began to fire at the new player.

His weapon fired at the agents, they luckily moved out of the way before the purple rays hit them. But the Vulture reached a car in no time, grabbing onto it with metal claws. The talons tore into roof like tissue paper and he lifted it like nothing. As the wheels lifted off the ground, the Vulture tossed the vehicle with little effort. The sedan flew through the air towards one of the agents. Peter reacted quickly, pushing the man out of the way. But in his effort, the car smacked right into him, hitting him against a steel pole.

“PETER!” You screamed, watching as the video feed shows him getting back up. Your hands were shaking, one held over your mouth to hold back anymore shouts.

Peter continued to try and web the Vulture, but each effort was futile. He even released the man with the shock glove, ordering him to meet him at the top deck.

“Peter, please! You need to get out of there!” You cried, watching as cars flew past him. He dodged purple blasts as they were being shot.

Peter flung into the air, attempting to anchor the Vulture to the ship. With just a measly swipe, all of the strings were cut. Peter then began to focus on his weapon as he blasted away. With one lucky shot, he landed a single thread on the weapon, activating his taser web.

The Vulture releases the gun as a result, the weapon flew onto the deck with a crack. The weapon begins to fire sporadically, shooting in every direction possible. Peter sprays his web, holding it down in one place as he cocoons it. A purple glow can be seen underneath.

“You’re messing with things you don’t understand!” The Vulture shouts. He quickly takes off before Peter can respond.

Not a moment later, the weapon behind him starts to intensify it’s glow. It suddenly becomes blinding, the purple now a bright white.

“Oh no.” Ned speaks as he watches the scans all go haywire, he recognizes this.

Suddenly, the weapon blows under the cocoon, sending purple rays slicing through the ship. Steel can be heard screeching under the pressure, the metal being sliced through like butter. All you could do is watch in horror.

Water burst through the cracks, the boat slowly spreading apart.

“Karen, show me all the strongest points on the ship!” Peter shouted.

He took a leap forward, webbing all of the highlighted pillars and walls. You could barely keep up with all the movements, it seemed to be a blur. You could hear web grenades burst behind him as he shot regular strings at the points Karen marked. He was quick, he reached the end of the boat in no time.

“Great job, Peter!” Karen began to congratulate, “You were 98% successful!”

You wanted to vomit.

Webs began to detach themselves, the creaking of metal getting louder as the ship continued to part.

“No, no no no!” Peter began to panic. Your heart shattering at his voice.

Water burst through the middle, slowly flooding the lower levels. Your ears rang with the screams of people below, you can see figures holding onto doors or ledges as the ship separated further and further.

In a desperate attempt to hold the ferry together, Peter grabbed onto a torn web. He held on with a strain, Ned’s screen going haywire from the physical stress on his body. Peter began to yell, his arms started to give out as the ferry split further.

Until suddenly, it didn’t.

Your screen began to get static, waves of color slowly taking over your screen. You could hear the faint shouts of someone calling “Iron Man!” Before the screen completely turned to black.

Text then popped up on your screen, your eyes widening as you scanned the words.

_**Impressive work, but it won’t happen again. - T.S.** _

You turned to Ned, his screen filled with the same message. You didn’t realize you were crying until a drop hit your keyboard.

–

It was hours later into the day. No word from Peter, he never answered his phone after you disconnected. Ned had long left, his own parents worried for him. Though, the both of you have been texting all day. He tried his best to keep you calm, but little could be said to quell your nerves.

Your panic seemed to multiply ten fold when Peter’s Aunt came home. The woman found you crying in his room, her own fears plaguing her heart. She’s gone through this before, and she didn’t want to believe it was happening to Peter as well.

May continued your efforts in calling him, even going as far as calling local police. You had to lie to her, tell her that Peter left to get food hours ago and never came home. The last thing Peter wanted was for May to know, and you kept to that.

You were on the couch, a cup of chocolate milk in your hands while May sat at the table. You could hear her on the phone, calling Ned’s parents. She called others too, you assumed they were more of his friend’s parents. You knew she wouldn’t find anything, but there was no way you were going to tell her that.

You heard her hang up the phone, she took light steps to the couch you sat on.

“You want more, sweetheart?” She asked you with a hand on your shoulder. She knew you didn’t take a sip from the mug, but she didn’t know what else to say to you.

“I’m okay, thank you.” You answered sincerely.

She gave you a polite smile. It didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Her hand began to slide off your shoulder as she turned. Your own, however, caught hers. She turned back with curiosity at you, your grip tightening.

“I-I’m sorry.” You barely whispered. Your own choked sobs returning as you apologized to her.

She walked around the couch to take a seat next to you, she took the mug from your hands and placed it on the table before her arms wrapped around you with a motherly warmth. You didn’t know her very well, but the kindness she has shown you made you lean into her. Your cries muffled into her shoulder as she ran her fingers over your hair.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about.” She told you. If only she had known.

You continued to cry, you would jolt with each hiccup. She seemed to hold onto you tighter, tears falling onto your hair as she began to broke down.

 _Not again._ She thought. _Not Peter too._

While you both still held onto each other, three gentle knocks rang from the front door. You looked up at May with wide eyes, she got up in a flash.

She didn’t even check the peephole, she gripped the door nob and ripped it open. You watched from your spot behind the couch, your tired eyes scanning the doorway.

May closed the door, and Peter was left standing in front of her.

You got up in a heartbeat, taking slow steps towards him as May began to reprimand him. Anger shook her voice, but there was a sense of relief in her eyes.

You stood behind her, letting May have her time with him before stepping in. But as she continued speaking to him, he couldn’t tear his eyes off you.

“Tell me, what’s going on with you?” May asked. Peter’s eyes began to water.

May sat him down, listening as he told you both that he lost the Stark internship.

 _Spider-man_ , you realized.

May had calmed down a bit, finally being able to talk to Peter. She admitted to knowing he leaves at night, but all she wanted was for him to be safe.

She finished her talk, turning to you and giving you a knowing look.

“And don’t do this to her, Peter. She doesn’t deserve that.” May spoke, her tone lined with something that only Peter would get. He looked up at her, his eyes seemingly watering at the statement.

“I won’t.” He simply answered.

She left you two alone. You sat next to Peter, your hand in his. He held it tightly against his lap, his hands shaking as they wrapped around yours.

“What happened, Peter?” You finally spoke.

He let out a sniffle before bringing his eyes up to yours. They were red, his cheeks wet with tears. You caught how his bottom lip trembled before he answered you.

“I wasn’t good enough.” He spoke, his voice breaking with each word. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t help those people.”

Just as he began to sob, you wrapped your arms around him. You brought his head to your chest and held tightly as he whimpered.

“Mr. Stark saved them, if it weren’t for him then people would have died.” He spoke. You listened as he explained, scratching gently at the nape of his neck.

“You did your best, Peter.” You tried to console.

“My best wasn’t good enough.”

Your heart broke. Your stomach tangled and knotted at those words. You so desperately tried to hold it together for his sake, but you couldn’t. Your chest ached and your throat tightened with the sobs that came from you.

“You are enough, Petey, you are enough.” You reminded him. Your words weren’t for Spider-man, however. They were for Peter Parker.

You both held onto each other. No words were spoken for a moment, just simply present for each other. You combed through his hair, scratching delicately at his scalp. He would twist his head for you to reach around, his whimpers were eventually replaced with moans of pleasure. Your other hand rubbed gently at his back, soothing his hiccups. Peter’s eyes were closed, your touch on overdrive with his enhanced senses. It felt heavenly on his skin, the way you touched him. It felt like home.

“You smell bad.” You interrupted.

He pulled his head up from your chest, his red nose brushing against yours.

“I know.” He admitted.

Your lips turned up slightly, the ghost of a smile barely on your face as you reached in and closed the gap.

He was more needy this time, his mouth pushed against yours as if he could get any closer. It was different, but just as lovely.

You both pulled away just as quickly, breath shared between the both of you.

“I’ll go shower. You can head back home now, thank you for staying with May.” He spoke lightly, his voice still unsteady as he told you to go home.

You tilted your head, eyebrows raised. “Can I stay?” You asked.

His cheeks reddened, but a smile appeared anyways.

“Of course.”

“Can you at least ask May if it’s alright before you go and say ‘yes'” You reprimanded. “This is her home after all.”

“I know she’ll be okay with it.” He tried assuring.

“Peter.”

“Fine! Fine, I’ll ask her right now.”

“Good. And then take a shower, please.”

Peter asked his Aunt if you could stay, and she gladly said “Yes.” and quickly added that you both leave the door open. She even wanted Peter to sleep on the couch, but he managed to convince her to let him sleep on the floor in his room while you slept in his bed. You felt bad for kicking him out of his bed, but you were glad you could be so close to him.

Peter gave you one of his old shirts and a pair of basketball shorts as pajamas. You changed as Peter showered. The items of clothing hung loose on you, which you were glad for. You always slept in over sized t-shirts.

You were already laying in bed by the time he came out, the blanket wrapped around you like a burrito as he shuffled in the room.

“Aw.” You spoke with a pout as he entered the room.

“What?” He asked, eyeing you with suspicion.

“I thought you’d be in a towel or somethin’.” You continued to pout, only your face showing under the blanket. Peter was dressed in a plain tee shirt and pajama bottoms. The Hello Kitty pants and tourist shirt was discarded in the corner of the room.

Peter let out a chuckle before sitting down on the floor in front of you.

“Goodnight.” He reached forward and gave you a quick peck. He crawled up to his desk lamp to shut it off. The room was dark, save for the moonlight that peaked through the blinds.

“Goodnight.” You replied.

You both were facing each other, he wrapped the blanket around himself mirroring you. You both looked like giant caterpillars cocooning so you can turn into butterflies. He looked adorable, a lock of hair sticking out from under the blanket wrapped around his head. A finger poked out, scratching his nose before finding it’s place back under the blanket. You chuckled.

“Hey, Petey.” You whispered.

“Yeah?” He answered.

“Can you lay with me for a bit? I know May said you can’t but you don’t have to sleep up here.” Your ears felt warm at your own request, but you wanted to feel him against you. Especially after today’s events, you needed the assurance that he was here and present.

“Y-Yeah.”

You watched his silhouette wiggle out of his blanket. You scooted over for him, removing the cocoon from your self so he can fit under the blanket.

He was tight against you, your hands finding their way to his. He pulled them up to his lips, placing gentle kisses along your fingertips. Your smile didn’t go unseen.

Your feet rubbed against his, you found that he was cold. You pushed yourself closer in response.

“I’m sorry.” He spoke quietly. He tucked your hand under his cheek.

“For what?” You asked, distracted by the feeling of his skin on your fingers.

“For scaring you.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.”

You paused. You tried to focus your eyes on his in the dark.

“Yeah, it wasn’t okay.” You sighed. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“I won’t.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

You stuck out your pinky, holding it against his hand. He wrapped it with his own, swearing to keep his promise. You continued to hold his pinky tightly as he kissed your finger gently. His lips were soft, you realized. You liked the way they felt against you, whether it be your pinky or your lips. They just felt _right_. They were always warm, but seemed to give you chills with each kiss.

You soon fell asleep to his kisses, his lips kissing your knuckles and then your lips. Gentle pecks against your cheeks shoved you into the abyss of slumber. He didn’t have the heart to go back on the floor, he only hoped Aunt May wouldn’t be too mad.

Her wrath was worth it, he concluded. He felt at home laying with you, feeling your heart beat against his own chest. Your light breaths tickling his neck. This moment was perfect. _You_ were perfect.

Peter fell asleep against your breath, your sleepy mumbles lulling him to sleep while your feet tangled further into his.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry this took a cool second i swear im not lazy ive been posting a lot of other stuff on my tumblr yall should check it out [magic-marvel](https://magic-marvel.tumblr.com/)

You sat next to Peter at the lunch table, Ned on his other side. Beverly and Riley sat across from you and Peter, both of them scrolling through Beverly’s phone.

“Oh! This one!” Beverly called out, pointing at an image for Riley.

You kept eating your lunch, ignoring their excitement.

“Oh my God! It’s perfect! C'mon Bev click it!” Riley frantically pressed at the screen when Beverly wouldn’t. But soon both their faces dropped in disappointment.

“Sold out. Great. What is that, the hundredth dress that’s sold out now?” Riley looked up at you. Her glare making you look up from your food.

“You guys don’t have to look for a dress for me, especially since Homecoming is in two days, everything’s probably cleared out by now.” You spoke to your friends. “I’m totally fine with wearing my mom’s old dress.”

“Umm, well as a person who loves and cares about you, I will not let that happen to you. You will not turn up at Homecoming wearing a retro dress with old wine stains and probably smells like DMV.” Riley said as she shoved more food into her mouth.

“The DMV? That doesn’t even make sense! And the wine stains are barely even visible!” You defended.

“The DMV does smell a little gross.” Peter spoke from next to you. He picked at his food with a plastic fork, his nose crinkled at the thought of the smell. You let out a chuckle, the sound making him smile at you. With a gentle shove to his shoulder, he returned back to eating his food in quiet.

 

This is how it’s been since the Ferry incident, since Peter lost his suit. He was more reserved, seemingly robotic in his actions. He went to school, walked you home, and went back down to his apartment. Day in, day out. You thought he would continue his routine of keeping you company while your mom worked, but even that stopped. You never pressed him as to why he stopped, but you missed it. You missed those late-night conversations on your bedroom floor. You no longer rummaged through the fridge looking for whatever scraps you can gather to feed him, it was just you now. You ate alone every night in an apartment too quiet and too lonely. You fell asleep feeling cold, no longer being warmed by his tight hugs and stolen kisses. Your heart now held a steady, quiet beat. You didn’t feel the rush of having him sneak out every night to avoid being caught. It was all empty, the air itself didn’t feel the same without him.

But you are there for him regardless, keeping a smile on your face in hopes that one day a genuine one will be on his.

 

“Hey guys!” Liz approached your table, snapping you out of your thoughts.

There was a unison of “hey” and “hello”, everyone pulling their attention to her.

She squeezed next to Beverly, playfully shoving against her.

“So, what’s the situation on getting to Hoco? Are we getting the limo?” She asked.

“About that.” Riley started.

“None of us can afford our shares.” You finished.

Liz gave a shrug her expression unfaltering.

“That’s fine, my dad can take all of us.” She answered before stealing a fry from Beverly’s plate.

“In that tiny car? No way!” Riley commented, craning her neck to speak to Liz.

“It’s either that or walking guys!” She reminded.

“I think I’m gonna opt out of this one. I’m willing to be dropped off by my mom to avoid that clown car.” Ned spoke.

“Can your mom take me and my date too.” Riley asked.

“Yup.” Ned answered.

“You guys are lame.” Liz said.

“Don’t worry, me and Peter will take a ride in the clown car.” You assured. Liz smiling with gratitude at you.

“Yeah, I’m totally down for it.” Beverly chimed in.

Liz visibily brightened, a smile widening and showing her pearly whites. It was adorable.

“Great! I’ll see you all there!” Liz spoke before rushing back to her table, you watched as she grabbed her backpack right when the bell rang. She had good timing.

All of you rose from your seats, throwing away wrappers and putting plates on carts. You walked in step with Peter, his hand finding its way to yours. With a gentle squeeze, you looked up at him. He gave you back a smile, but that’s all it was. It didn’t reach his eyes, it didn’t even give him that familiar glow you’ve grown used to. Nothing more than a smile, no happiness, no meaning, nothing. You still held on tightly, grasping for the remaining pieces of the boy you gave your heart to.

 

The day ended with the bell, nothing of interest really happened as you navigated your classes. You met Peter at the front gates, he had his earbuds in and you can see his head bobbing lightly to the beat. You rushed to his side, pulling one of the buds out and placing it in your own ear.

“How was your day?” You asked as he wrapped an arm around you.

“Normal.” He shrugged. “What about you?”

_Boring, sad, endless, I miss you,_ you wanted to say.

“Normal.” You replied.

You walked home together, listening to his music in relative peace. He didn’t tell you his stories like he always does, he didn’t even mention anything about Ned. It was like he was a shell now.

He looked like Peter, even walked and talked like him, but he didn’t feel like Peter. You didn’t know what to do, your own self-conscious mind reverting back to that shy, reserved girl you had always been. You didn’t want to pry, you didn’t want to get on his nerves. You were worried, but didn’t want to express it. You hated this feeling, you hated how you felt _scared_ to be concerned.

 

He never told you what had actually happened at the Ferry, only saying that Stark took his suit. He never said why, never even told you what Stark said. You never asked afterwards.

 

“I’ll text you when I get downstairs.” Peter spoke as you arrived at your door.

You gave him back his earbud, holding onto his hand tightly.

“Hey, umm…” You started, wanting to tell him to talk to you. You wanted to tell him that whatever he was going through, you wanted to go through it with him. He can rely on you, tell you anything.

“Yeah?” Peter questioned, his eyebrows furrowing in worry.

You took the time to look at his eyes, the way they were just a little too heavy. Dark circles barely beginning to form. His hair was messier than usual, his skin no longer glowing.

Your fingers held tightly, your palms began to sweat and your knees seemed to want to give out. There was this sinking feeling in your stomach, one filled with regret and worry. You could hear your own heartbeat in your ears.

You wanted to tell him, you really did.

“…D-Do you want me to meet you at your place? For Homecoming?” You diverted. Completely abandoning what you were trying to say.

His eyes moved away from yours, giving you a quick nod.

“I know May will want pictures, so you can come downstairs before we go.” He replied. His voice was low, that boyish tone completely gone.

“Okay, I’ll text you.” You say as you unlocked your door. You turned and he gave you a quick peck on the cheek, his thumb running over the spot with a gentle brush. There was a look in his eyes, one you didn’t recognize. He gave you a smile before removing his hand from your cheek. He waved goodbye and headed downstairs towards his own apartment.

The door closed behind you. You leaned against the wood for a moment, your fingers dragging down the chipped paint. You couldn’t avoid the thoughts of disappointment in yourself, no matter how hard you cried.

 

It was Saturday morning, mere hours away from Homecoming. You were in no rush to get ready, not feeling particularly excited about the event. You’d thought it’d be fun, a good ‘teenage experience’ as your mom put it. But you didn’t feel as enthusiastic as most people from your school. Snapchat, Twitter, even Instagram showed pictures and videos of people getting ready and feeling generally hyped about the event.

You scrolled through your feed, feet up on the couch with a bag of Doritos resting on your chest. The sudden ring of your doorbell scared you, sending the bag in the air to rain chips on you. With an exasperated groan, you got up and let the chips from your shirt fall to the floor.

Opening the door, you found Beverly grinning at you excitedly. She lifted a hanger over her shoulder, whatever it held was sudden under a garment bag.

“Get in the shower, you’re Fairy Godmother is here to save you.” She shoved past you, flinging the garment bag over the back of the couch.

“Save me? I don’t think that’s how the story went.” You pulled a handheld vacuum out of the hallway closet.

“Trust me, this makeover will save you.” She took a seat on the loveseat while you cleaned up the mess of Doritos.

“Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready too and stuff?” You asked, picking up the bag off the floor. You eyed the garment bag again, assuming that was her dress. She quickly got back up from her seat, lifting the bag to reveal that it was actually two garments.

“What’s the second one for?” You questioned suspiciously. You finished cleaning, putting the vacuum back.

Beverly gave you another wicked grin, making you stop in your tracks.

“I think you know.” She spoke ominously. You walked up to her, eyeing the bag as she held it up to you. “Go ahead, open it.”

“When you say it like that it just scares me!” You told her, your features crinkled in worry.

“Just open it!”

With a careful grip, you pulled down the zipper. The material didn’t open right away, forcing you to part the bag with your own hands.

The first thing you saw was the bright glow of golden fabric. Removing the bag completely, you grabbed the material in your hands and gasped.

“Where did you get this?” You asked in awe, dragging delicate fingers over the smooth satin. The fabric morphed to your hands, hugging each finger as you held on.

“You know how my aunt made my dress?” She reminds.

You looked back down at the dress. The perfectly stitched hem and woven fabric to make a beautiful bodice, the neckline high to match the long sleeves that ran along the dress.

“She didn’t…” You whispered.

“She did. And she strikes a hard bargain, I have to walk her dogs for a month.”

Your hand ran over the material again, taking in the feeling of hard work and dedication. Beverly’s aunt really did an amazing job, and you almost speechless at the design in front of you.

“Th-This is beautiful, I can’t thank her enough.” You looked up at Beverly, a smile unfaltering.

“No worries, she loves this kind of stuff. She was just glad she could help you out, even if it was last minute.”

You let the material go, wrapping your arms around the girl in front of you. Squeezing tightly, you whispered thanks to her as she brought her own arms around your waist. Beverly didn’t have to do this for you, so the thought that she did made tears prickle at the corners of your eyes.

“Now get in the shower, you smell like chips and sadness.” She started pushing you towards the bathroom, picking at your hair to remove the chips that tangled with the strands. Before letting her go, you slapped a huge kiss on her cheek, holding her face as she squirmed under you.

“Thank you so much!” You told her once more, closing the bathroom door behind you.

 

You got ready quickly with the help of Beverly. She did your hair carefully, accentuating your facial features by framing your locks perfectly. She even managed to get your makeup done with enough time for her to do her own. You both had the dresses left, your mom excitedly waiting for both of you to come out of the room.

Beverly stepped out first, navy blue hugged her body and turned her curves into waves. She looked like the sea at night, gentle sparkles reflecting with every turn and step she took. It was as if the the light flow of her dress only moved at her command, only daring to flicker and flow because she told it to. It was mesmerizing, and your mother filled her phone with pictures.

You came out a few moments later, finally happy with the way the fabric rest on your body.

Your mom held a shaking hand over her mouth, her eyes watering at the very sight of you. Beverly held the widest grin you have ever seen, her eyes crinkling at the corners.

“Oh my Gosh, you look wonderful sweetheart…” Your mom whispered, taking steps forward.

She held her hands out and you took them quickly. She held you out so she can take you all in, spinning you to get the full view.

“Thanks, Mom. But this is all because of Beverly’s Aunt.” You choked up speaking, watching a rebellious tear slip from your mother’s eye. A sniffle rang through the apartment.

“Honey, you wear the dress. It doesn’t wear you.” She told you, pressing you close in a tight hug.

“Mom, its Homecoming, not fashion week.” You tried telling her. But saying the words seemingly calmed you instead.

She pulled away, wiping her cheeks and stepping back. She started taking pictures upon pictures, instructing you and Beverly to stand with you. It was a cute moment, your mom being so emotional over you.

Just as she snapped the last few, she hurriedly told you to go downstairs for Peter. You thought she would stay here, but she quickly put on her shoes in an effort to rush.

You wobbled a bit going down the stairs, the heels were beautiful but you were in no way used to them. Beverly told you to bring extra shoes, that’s what people usually did at dances. The heels were for pictures and flats for dancing.

You told her that was weird, and so you decided to stick it out and wear heels for the night. You were already regretting it.

You had reached Peter’s apartment in no time, your mom smashing on the doorbell in excitement.

You could hear muffled shuffling behind the door, voices going back and forth in banter before the door flung open.

“Oh wow! You both look so beautiful!” May eyed you and Beverly, taking in each look before scooting over so Peter can step out.

He didn’t get to make it out the threshold, he was frozen in place.

His eyes wandered your body, his adam’s apple bobbing with a dry swallow. His breathing was shallow, mouth agape as he looked at you.

You were beautiful.

The way the gold wrapped around you like silk, your skirt flowed just below your knees. The hem gently tickling your skin as a draft blew into the hall. Your sleeves were woven to fit perfectly against your skin, stopping barely above your wrists. The neckline was high, just offering the innocent tease of your collarbones. Your chest down to your waist was covered in a beautiful pattern of lace, the light silk shone underneath and became the centerpiece of your skirt. You were glowing, a Goddess among men, and he was undeserving of this sight.

“Don’t you look adorable.” You spoke, making him look up at your eyes. Beautiful lashes painted black and your lips a beautiful shade of red. You smiled, and he watched as scarlet smoothly followed.

“Y-You… I… Wow…” Peter finally got out, not making any sense. You chuckled.

“That bad, huh?” You stepped forward, grabbing the labels of his slightly-too-large jacket and pulled them close. He kept his eyes on your face, the way your nose scrunched in focus, how there was a light shimmer on your cheeks. You pinned a red floral boutonniere to his jacket, a gentle pat to his chest signaling you were finished.

“Amazing.” He uttered, making you look up at his own chocolate eyes. The glimmer was back, even for just a moment. Your Peter had shined through eyes, and your smile couldn’t be wider.

May gentle nudged him with a plastic box, holding your corsage inside. He took it out with a fumble, you suppressed a giggle as he finally figured out to open the simple box. He took your hand in his, admiring the softness of your palms. With one gentle shove, he slipped the corsage onto your wrist and held tightly on your hand.

There was a gentle tremble in his fingers, and his eyes translated something to yours that only you would understand.

_An apology,_ you realized.

You replied with a smile.

_It’s okay._

“Alright kiddos! Get together!” May spoke to all three of you, taking pictures with your mom. Eventually Beverly stepped aside, allowing May and your mom to take photos of the both of you. Your mom and May ended up sending each other the photos, no matter how similar they were. And before they could force you three to model more, Beverly gets a text that says Liz and her dad is waiting downstairs.

“Be safe and have fun you guys!” Your mom calls out, all three of you rushing down the steps in an effort to escape the parental figures.

“If any of you need a ride home early just give me a call okay!” May shouts as you and Beverly scramble into the tiny car.

Peter shouts a quick goodbye, waving at your mom and his Aunt May before closing the door.

“You guys are so cute! Those dresses are amazing!” Liz calls out from the front seat.

Peter was fumbling with his seat belt, trying to find the end in between the seats.

“Thank you! Beverly’s Aunt made them!” You replied, a smile wide on your face.

“What?! No way!” Liz is shocked, her expression showing disbelief.

“Your Aunt is very talented.” Liz’s father comments from the driver seat. A tang of familiarity tickles in Peter’s brain. You scoot an inch, trying to help him connect the seatbelt.

“She really is! Thank you, by the way, for taking us. It was very kind of you to offer.” Beverly speaks from behind the driver seat.

“Oh no problem. School’s on the way of where I’m heading anyways. Woulda been a waste if I didn’t take you all.”

Peter has heard this voice before, but where?

With a silent _click_ you squeezed his seat belt into the connector and he finally looked up at Liz’s father through the mirror.

All the color drained from his face, his blood ran cold.

“And you must be Pedro, right?” He asks jokingly. His eyes connecting with Peter’s as he waits at a red light. “One of Liz’s friends?”

“Uh-I…I’m…” Peter struggled to answer, unsure if the sight in front of him is real.

“Dad, I told you his name is Peter.” Liz corrected.

“Oh right! I forgot. My bad, Paul.”

“Dad!”

Peter watched as Liz’s father continued to drive. His mind racing with thoughts of the Ferry, all those people he could have killed. He even thought of the lake, how easy it was for The Vulture to pluck him off the ground and toss him into the lake to drown. This man is not afraid of death, nor is he afraid of causing it.

And here he is, driving his daughter and her friends to their high school homecoming.

“So, are you all on the debate team?” Liz’s father asks.

“Nope. Just Peter.” Liz answers.

You turn to face him, worry taking over when you see the look on Peter’s face.

“Oh really? So you were there during the incident in D.C.?” He asks.

Peter swallows thickly, his hand finding yours in an instant.

“I-I… I wasn’t actually… in the elevator. Sir.” He answers, his own voice wavering. Neither Liz or Beverly noticed, but you sure did.

“Yeah, he pretty much ditched the competition.” Liz adds. Her father perking up.

“Really?”

“Umm, well… I…” Peter was struggling. He couldn’t lie, Liz was there. But he knew that if he specified any further then the man would know the truth. He turned to you, his eyes pleading for help.

“It wasn’t all too surprising though, he like left 20 minutes into Liz’s party.” Beverly commented. Your own head turning to shoot silent daggers at her. She didn’t get the message.

“I-I didn’t leave.” Peter defended.

“Uh, yeah you did.” Liz once again corrected. Her father’s eyebrows furrowed as the pieces fell in place.

“I haven’t met you before, have I?” Her father asks. “You’re voice… it sounds familiar.”

“N-No, no. We haven’t met.” His hand tightened around yours. His strength went unchecked, and you struggled not to make a sound. You put your hand over his in an effort to have him loosen.

“Huh. Coulda sworn…”

“Oh wow! We’re here! Look at that!” You pointed towards the window, a sea of formal wear all littered around the entrance of the school.

Liz’s father parked right in front, kissed his daughter goodbye as she climbed out of the car. Beverly followed closely behind.

Peter opened the door, inching out when Liz’s father called out to both of you.

“Hey, you wouldn’t mind if I steal your date for a moment? I got luggage in the back and I’d really appreciate it if he helped me put it in the cab, my back ain’t what it used to be and I don’t want it bouncin’ around in the trunk, y'know?”

You turned back to Peter waiting for his response. He gave you a look signaling it was okay, and you began to shuffle out behind Peter.

“Sure, Sir. Thank you for giving us a ride.” You say politely. Peter stayed back and watched as you joined Liz and Beverly inside.

You felt your heart beating out of your chest, your legs shaking as you entered the school. You wanted to throw up, the feeling of uneasiness pooling in your throat. It couldn’t be him, it just couldn’t. That was Liz’s father, not The Vulture.

And yet you turned, finding the vague outline of Peter back inside the car. Tinted windows hid all the answers, whether you wanted to hear them or not, you weren’t sure.


End file.
